Cessna C-207 accident near Nome, Alaska, January 11, 1985
On January 11, 1985 at about 11:04 pm local time, a Cessna C-207, registered N7396U, was substantially damaged in an accident near Nome, Alaska (Nome airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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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 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 11, 1985 · about 11:04 pm local time
- Place
- Nome, Alaska · Nome · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna C-207
- Registration
- N7396U · registry record · serial 20700438
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
PLT OBTAINED A SPECIAL VFR TO LAND AT NOME ARPT. PLT SAW APCH LIGHTS AND MADE A LEFT CIRCLE TO LINE UP WITH RWY. PLT STATED, CEILING WAS 300 FT AGL, LOW VISIBILITY AND FREEZING DRIZZLE WAS PRESENT. APRX 3/8 INCH OF ICE WAS ON AIRFRAME AND WINDSHIELD. PLT STATED, 'I FAILED TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT ALTITUDE... .' ACFT CONTACTED LEVEL TERRAIN APRX 5 MILES WEST OF THE ARPT.
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; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 11,570 hours in all; 4,215 in this make and model; 70 in the last 90 days; 40 in the last 30 days; 11,300 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,426 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, December 11, 1984; 44 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,800 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: SHH Shishmarek AK at 9:48 pm
- Destination: OME Nome AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 080° at 12 knots
- Visibility: 2 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 300 ft; not recorded at 300 ft
- Temperature: 25°F (-4°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 10:45 pm from OME, 5 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N7396U the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ANC85LA039.