Cessna 185F accident near Angoon, Alaska, August 10, 1991
On August 10, 1991 at about 6:50 pm local time, a Cessna 185F, registered N715V, was destroyed in an accident near Angoon, Alaska. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was seriously injured. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN A PROPER DESCENT RATE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS PILOT'S INTENTIONAL ABRUPT MANEUVERING AT A LOW ALTITUDE AND THE FLAPS THAT RETRACTED A KNOTCH.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 10, 1991 · about 6:50 pm local time
- Place
- Angoon, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 185F · all 185Fs on the register
- Registration
- N715V · registry record · serial 185-02674
- 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 PILOT STATED THAT WHILE IN A LOW ALTITUDE STEEP DESCENDING TURN FROM BASE LEG TO FINAL APPROACH, THE FLAPS RETRACTED, AND THE ENGINE SEEMED TO SPUTTER. THE AIRPLANE LANDED HARD IN THE SHALLOW WATER, THEN RAN UP ON THE ROCKS AND NOSED OVER. A POST IMPACT FIRE DESTROYED THE AIRPLANE.
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: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,769 hours in all; 1,891 in this make and model; 324 in the last 90 days; 137 in the last 30 days; 3,629 as pilot in command; 52 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 8,220 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, July 31, 1991; 53 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,350 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520-D (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: PSG Petersburg AK at 1:00 pm
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 330° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 3,000 ft; not recorded at 3,000 ft
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°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.
Other NTSB records under N715V 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 ANC91LA119.