Gates Learjet 24D accident near Juneau, Alaska, October 23, 1985
On October 23, 1985 at about 4:43 am local time, a Gates Learjet 24D, registered N456JA, was destroyed in an accident near Juneau, Alaska (Juneau Intl airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 4 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
- October 23, 1985 · about 4:43 am local time
- Place
- Juneau, Alaska · Juneau Intl
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 4 people were killed.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Gates Learjet 24D · all 24Ds on the register
- Registration
- N456JA · registry record · serial 265
- 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
DRG ARRIVAL TO PICK UP A MED-EVAC PATIENT, THE FLT WAS CLRD FOR AN LDA-1 RWY 8 APCH VIA THE ASORT TRANSITION. THUS, THE PLT SHOULD HAVE CONTD SE ON J-541 TWD THE SSR VORTAC & INTERCEPTED THE LOCALIZER (LOC) AT ASORT; THEN TRACK INBND ON THELOC (062 DEG), USING I-JDL FREQ 109.9 MHZ (FREQ FOR LOC & CO-LOCATED DME). AFTER ASORT, MIN ALT WAS 6500' TO DIBOL INTX,5100' TO LYNNS INTXN & 3400' TO THE FAF AT BARLO INTXN. DME FM I-JDL TO THE INTXNS WAS: 18.2, 13.5 & 8 MI. DME FM SSR (SOUTH OF LOC TRACK) TO THE INTXNS WAS 11.2, 12.7 & APRX 16 MI. FLT RPRTD ASORT INBND WHILE DSCNDG THRU APRX 9500'. LASTRDO CALL WAS 30 SEC LATER WHILE DSCNDG THRU 8200', 14 MI WEST OF DIBOL. APRX 4 MI WEST OF DIBOL, ACFT IMPACTED MTN SIDE AT 3500' MSL. NO PREIMPACT MECH MALFUNCTION WAS FND. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT BOTH NAV'S WERE TUNED TO 109.9 MHZ, BUT DME CTL HEAD WAS INADVERTENTLY LEFT IN 'HOLD' PSN (LOCKING DME TO SSR RATHER THAN I-JDL) & CREW BEGAN A PREMATURE DSCNT.JUNEAU WX WAS IN PART: 600' SCATTERED, 3000' OVERCAST, 7 MI VISIBILITY. PIC WAS CURRENTLY FLYING BOTH LEARJET & DHC-7.
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 instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,578 hours in all; 547 in this make and model; 231 in the last 90 days; 47 in the last 30 days; 3,680 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 6,303 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, September 19, 1985; 82 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 15,000 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Ge CJ-610-6 (turbojet); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ANC Anchorage AK at 10:37 pm
- Destination: JNU Juneau AK
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 8, 8,456 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: overcast; not recorded
- Temperature: 34°F (1°C), dew point 34°F (1°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:59 pm from JNU, 24 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 4 |
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 N456JA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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.