Amateur-built DHC-2 accident near Elfin Cove, Alaska, July 19, 1996
On July 19, 1996 at about 11:30 pm local time, a amateur-built DHC-2, registered N54LA, was destroyed in an accident near Elfin Cove, Alaska. 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 pilot's decision to continue VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain adequate clearance from rising terrain. Factors associated with the accident were the rising terrain and clouds.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 19, 1996 · about 11:30 pm local time
- Place
- Elfin Cove, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DHC-2
- Registration
- N54LA · registry record · serial 724
- 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 of the air taxi cargo flight departed his base of operations in Juneau, Alaska for a series of flights in southeast Alaska that would ultimately return him to Juneau. On the accident leg of the intended round robin, the pilot was en route from Hoonah to Elfin Cove. The flight would originate and end at sea level, and traverse a mountain pass, with minimum obstruction clearance in the pass estimated at 500 feet msl. The airplane collided with steeply rising terrain at the 1,250-foot level about one mile south of the proposed flight path. The airplane was partially consumed by a postimpact fire. The operator initiated a helicopter search within two hours of the time of the accident. The helicopter pilot and his passenger both reported that the area where the accident airplane was eventually located was obscured in low clouds, and that many of the other valleys and mountainsides were covered in clouds. Low clouds persisted in the area of the crash site for the following two days.
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
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,999 hours in all; 616 in this make and model; 178 in the last 90 days; 62 in the last 30 days; 2,921 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 11,047 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, July 9, 1996; 33 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,090 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W R-985 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Lynden Air Cargo
The flight
- Departed from: HNH Hoonah AK at 6:15 pm
- Destination: ELV
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 52°F (11°C), dew point 48°F (9°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:55 pm from PAE, 13 miles away
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.