Cessna U206G accident near Tuba City, Arizona, April 19, 1985
On April 19, 1985 at about 7:00 am local time, a Cessna U206G, registered N8849Q, was destroyed in an accident near Tuba City, Arizona. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 6 people were killed. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
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
- April 19, 1985 · about 7:00 am local time
- Place
- Tuba City, Arizona · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 6 people were killed.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Cessna U206G · all U206Gs on the register
- Registration
- N8849Q · registry record · serial U20603558
- 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
THIS WAS A MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION FLIGHT DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS IN MARGINAL WEATHER CONDITIONS. THE FLIGHT WAS NOT COMPLETED AND WAS RETURNING TO THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT WHEN IT DESCENDED INTO DESERT TERRAIN 10 MILES SHORT OF ITS DESTINATION.
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; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,800 hours in all; 800 in this make and model; 200 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 889 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, February 5, 1984; 61 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,600 lb
- Seats: 3
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520-F (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: TBC Tuba City AZ at 9:40 am
- Destination: PGA Page AZ
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Visibility: 2 statute miles
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Observation at 9:48 am from INW, 90 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 5 |
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.