Cessna 207 incident near Kotzebue, Alaska, December 23, 1998
On December 23, 1998 at about 1:05 pm local time, a Cessna 207, registered N1864, suffered minor damage in an incident near Kotzebue, Alaska (Kotzebue-Ralph Wein Mem. airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's selection of the wrong taxi route. A factor associated with this incident was the absence of taxiway lighting or marking.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 23, 1998 · about 1:05 pm local time
- Place
- Kotzebue, Alaska · Kotzebue-Ralph Wein Mem. · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 207 · all 207s on the register
- Registration
- N1864 · registry record · serial 207-00526
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane was taxiing for takeoff at night on a 1,463 feet long, snow covered, unlit and unmarked, taxiway. The pilot inadvertently taxied onto an unmarked vehicle road which crossed the taxiway at a shallow angle. He realized he was not on the taxiway when he saw vehicle headlights in front of him. He turned the airplane toward the runway lights, and the airplane dropped into a ditch. Since being stationed at the airport, the pilot had used the taxiway three times, and always in the daylight.
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, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,000 hours in all; 69 in the last 30 days; 4,900 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 3,800 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: OTZ AK at 1:05 pm
- Destination: WTK Noatak AK
- Runway 17, 3,896 ft by 90 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 10°F (-12°C), dew point 9°F (-13°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 12:53 pm from OTZ
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| 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.
Other NTSB records under N1864 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 ANC99IA019.