Cessna 207 accident near Crooked Creek, Alaska, August 8, 1987
On August 8, 1987 at about 5:30 pm local time, a Cessna 207, registered N7371U, was destroyed in an accident near Crooked Creek, Alaska (Crooked Creek airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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
- August 8, 1987 · about 5:30 pm local time
- Place
- Crooked Creek, Alaska · Crooked Creek · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 207 · all 207s on the register
- Registration
- N7371U · no longer on the register · serial 20700402
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE ACFT OVERFLEW THE DESTINATION DUE TO FOG. THE STATION MANAGER STATED THAT AFTER TRANSMITTING TO THE PLT THAT THE WX WAS 'ZERO ZERO', THE PLT STATED THAT HE WOULD CONTINUE ON TO RED DEVIL AND SHE HEARD IT FLY OVERHEAD. THE FIRST PIECES OF ACFT DEBRIS WERE FOUND 9 MILES SOUTH OF CROOKED CREEK ALONG THE WESTERN SHORE OF THE KUSKOKWIN RIVER AT A POINT WHERE IT WIDENED AND THE SURFACE OF THE WATER SMOOTHED OUT. NO IMPACT MARKS WERE FOUND ALONG EITHER SHORE OF THE RIVER. OTHER PLTS IN THE AREA STATED THAT THE FOG WAS DOWN TO THE GROUND AND EXTENDED APPROX 12 MILES SOUTH OF CROOKED CREEK. THE ENGINE, PLT'S SEAT, AND ACFT WERE NOT RECOVERED.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,467 hours in all; 167 in this make and model; 146 in the last 90 days; 1,096 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 10,015 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, July 25, 1987
- Maximum gross weight: 3,600 lb
- Seats: 8
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520-470 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Hermans Air INC.
The flight
- Departed from: Chuathbaluk AK at 11:50 am
- Destination: CJX Crooked Creek AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Sky: overcast; not recorded
- Temperature: 54°F (12°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 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.
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.