Cessna A185F incident near Deadhorse, Alaska, November 22, 1988
On November 22, 1988 at about 10:55 pm local time, a Cessna A185F, registered N20752, was involved in an incident near Deadhorse, Alaska (Deadhorse airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 1 person was 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 incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made November 2, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 22, 1988 · about 10:55 pm local time · cases in 1988
- Place
- Deadhorse, Alaska · Deadhorse · cases near this airport · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna A185F · all A185Fs on the register
- Registration
- N20752 · registry record · serial 18503041
- 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
ACFT BOUNCED SEVERAL TIMES DURING LANDING. THE PILOT COLLAPSED SHORTLY AFTER GETTING OUT OF THE AIRPLANE. BLOOD SAMPLES, TAKEN FROM THE PILOT THREE HOURS AFTER LANDING, CONTAINED 22.1% CARBON MONOXIDE. THE LEFT ENGINE MUFFLER OVERBOARD TUBE WAS BROKEN LOOSE FROM THE MUFFLER, WHERE THE TWO ARE WELDED, ALLOWING EXHAUST GAS TO ENTER THE COCKPIT THROUGH THE HEATER SYSTEM. THE OVERBOARD TUBE HAD A .022 INCH DEEP GROOVE FROM RUBBING AGAINST THE ENGINE COWLING, ON THE SIDE WHERE THE CRACK ORIGINATED. THE MUFFLER HAD BEEN INSTALLED DURING THE LAST 100 HOUR INSPECTION, 68 HOURS PREVIOUSLY. THE SOURCE OF MANUFACTURER OF THE MUFFLER COULD NOT BE VERIFIED.
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
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 4,700 hours in all; 150 in this make and model; 400 in the last 90 days; 100 in the last 30 days; 4,300 as pilot in command; 1,500 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,009 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, October 24, 1988; 68 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,300 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental IO-520 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Cape Smythe Air Service
The flight
- Departed from: BRW Barrow AK at 9:04 pm
- Destination: SCC Deadhorse AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 22, 6,500 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, bright
- Wind: from 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 2,000 ft
- Temperature: 12°F (-11°C), dew point 16°F (-9°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 10:45 pm from SCC
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.
Other NTSB records under N20752 the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N20752 on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Cessna A185 Skywagon 1,372 registered today · the model family and its accident history
- Cessna 72,685 aircraft on the register
- Engine: Continental IO-520 9,485 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Deadhorse Airport · nearest airport
- Wiley Post-Will Rogers Memorial · departed from
- Accidents and incidents in Alaska 5,932 since 1982 · 826 in the last ten years
- Alaska 9,143 aircraft registered
- Other NTSB records under N20752 7 records · the number may have belonged to another aircraft at the time
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/ANC89IA019.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
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 does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.