Cessna TU206A accident near Soldotna, Alaska, October 26, 1988
On October 26, 1988 at about 5:00 am local time, a Cessna TU206A, registered N4850F, was destroyed in an accident near Soldotna, Alaska (Soldotna airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 3 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
- October 26, 1988 · about 5:00 am local time
- Place
- Soldotna, Alaska · Soldotna · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna TU206A · all TU206As on the register
- Registration
- N4850F · no longer on the register · serial U2060550
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE ATP CERTIFICATED PILOT AND HIS TWO PASSENGERS WERE RETURNING FROM A HUNTING TRIP WHEN THE TURBOCHARGED CESSNA 206 CAUGHT FIRE SOON AFTER LANDING. THE PILOT STATED THAT THE ENGINE QUIT DURING THE LANDING ROLL AND AN ATTEMPT AT RESTARTING THE ENGINE AS THE AIRPLANE CLEARED THE RUNWAY WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. SHORTLY AFTER THE RESTART ATTEMPT, A FIRE STARTED IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. NO FIRE EXTINGUISHER WAS ONBOARD THE AIRPLANE AT THE TIME THAT THE FIRE STARTED AND THE FIRE WAS NOT EXTINGUISHED UNTIL LOCAL FIRE FIGHTERS ARRIVED.
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 engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 4,700 hours in all; 150 in this make and model; 250 in the last 90 days; 2 in the last 30 days; 1,350 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 16,900 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, October 29, 1987; 1,370 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,600 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental TSIO-520C (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: Spiridon Lake AK
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 7, 5,000 ft by 130 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 5,500 ft; scat at 2,500 ft
- Temperature: 27°F (-3°C), dew point 25°F (-4°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:50 am from ENA, 9 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| 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.
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.