Cessna 401 accident near Anchorage, Alaska, July 25, 1984
On July 25, 1984 at about 8:00 am local time, a Cessna 401, registered N7984Q, was involved in an accident near Anchorage, Alaska. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 5 people were killed. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 25, 1984 · about 8:00 am local time
- Place
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 5 people were killed.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Cessna 401 · all 401s on the register
- Registration
- N7984Q · no longer on the register · serial 401B0203
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
AT 0630 AKDT THE PLT OBTAINED A WX BRIEFING FOR THE FLT WHICH FORECAST VFR WITH OCCASIONAL MARGINAL CONDITIONS ALONG THE ROUTE OF FLT. AT 0704, THE PLT OBTAINED AN UPDATED BRIEFING AT WHICH TIME THE DESTINATION OF CANTWELL WAS REPORTED IFR. AT 0731 AKDT, THE ACFT DEPARTED ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL ON A COMPANY VFR FLT. NO FURTHER COMMUNICATION TOOK PLACE WITH THE ACFT. THE ACFT DID NOT REACH CANTWELL. AN EXTENSIVE SEARCH REVEALED NO TRACE OF THE ACFT OR ITS OCCUPANTS.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; multi-engine sea; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 11,092 hours in all; 310 in this make and model; 97 in the last 90 days; 40 in the last 30 days; 10,582 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,729 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, June 29, 1984; 49 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 6,300 lb
- Seats: 8
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental TSIO-520-E (piston); 0 hours total
- Not recorded
- Operator: Alaska Air Service, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: ANC Anchorage AK
- Destination: Z68 Cantwell AK
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 4 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.