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ANC86LA026

1986-02-08 · MCGRATH, Alaska, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MCG

N7071C has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BALLOON WORKS FIREFLY 8B-15, built 1999), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT HAD BEEN DRINKING FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD BEFORE UNDERTAKING THE NIGHT FLIGHT. AFTER TAKEOFF, THE ACFT WAS OBSERVED FLYING IN THE LOCAL AREA IN AN ERRATIC MANNER. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT CRASHED ABOUT .6 MI SHORT OF RWY 16. IMPACT OCCURRED AT THE BASE OF A SNOW COVERED, GRAVEL BANK. THE PILOT DID NOT POSSESS A VALID MEDICAL CERTIFICATE. HE HAD BEEN DENIED FLYING PRIVILEGES BY THE REGIONAL FAA FLT SURGEON FOR THE CONDITION OF ALCOHOLISM. A CHECK OF HIS BLOOD SHOWED AN ALCOHOL LEVEL OF 0.240%. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1986_ANC86LA026.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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