Amateur-built DHC-2 MARK 1 accident near Sitka, Alaska, August 18, 1988
On August 18, 1988 at about 2:20 pm local time, a amateur-built DHC-2 MARK 1, registered N64398, was destroyed in an accident near Sitka, Alaska. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was 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
- August 18, 1988 · about 2:20 pm local time
- Place
- Sitka, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DHC-2 MARK 1 DHC-2 MARK
- Registration
- N64398 · no longer on the register · serial 251
- 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
WHILE ON A FLIGHT FROM SITKA TO ROWAN BAY, ALASKA, THE PILOT FLEW UP A VALLEY INTENDING TO CROSS A PASS WHOSE ELEVATION WAS 2745 FEET MSL. UPON APPROACHING THE PASS THE PILOT ENCOUNTERED CLOUDS WHICH PREVENTED HIS TRANSIT. THE PILOT THEN EXECUTED A 180 DEGREE RIGHT COURSE REVERSAL AND AT SOME POINT NEAR THE COMPLETION OF THE MANEUVER AND IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE STEEP TERRAIN ALONG THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE PASS THE PILOT ALLOWED THE AIRCRAFT TO ENTER A STALL CONDITION. THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE 40 DEGREE SLOPED TERRAIN IN A STEEP NOSE DOWN, NEAR WINGS LEVEL ATTITUDE AND WITH A STEEP FLIGHT PATH.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,300 hours in all; 700 in this make and model; 300 in the last 90 days; 108 in the last 30 days; 3,000 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 13,985 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, August 13, 1988; 36 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,090 lb
- Seats: 8
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W R-985-AN14B (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: AK29 Sitka AK at 9:08 am
- Destination: RWB Rowan Bay AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 090° at 12 knots
- Visibility: 12 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 3,500 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 57°F (14°C), dew point 45°F (7°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:49 am from SIT, 15 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.