Cessna 207A accident near Cooper Landing, Alaska, August 8, 1988
On August 8, 1988 at about 10:30 pm local time, a Cessna 207A, registered N9829M, was substantially damaged in an accident near Cooper Landing, Alaska. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 6 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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, 1988 · about 10:30 pm local time
- Place
- Cooper Landing, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 6 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 207A · all 207As on the register
- Registration
- N9829M · registry record · serial 20700741
- 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
AFTER LOSS OF OIL PRESSURE THEN ENGINE FAILURE AT 2,800 FEET MSL, THE PILOT ELECTED TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY LANDING ALONG THE SHORE LINE. AFTER THE PILOT AND PASSENGERS EXITED THE AIRCRAFT, THE AIRPLANE SANK INTO 100 TO 150 FEET OF WATER. NEITHER THE AIRPLANE NOR THE ENGINE WAS 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: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,300 hours in all; 500 in this make and model; 300 in the last 90 days; 90 in the last 30 days; 1,175 as pilot in command; 200 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,650 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, August 4, 1988; 19 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,800 lb
- Seats: 7
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520-F (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: SWD Seward AK at 5:10 pm
- Destination: ANC Anchorage AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 70 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 64°F (18°C), dew point 39°F (4°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 5 |
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 N9829M the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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.