NTSB ANC88FA012 — 1987-10-26 · ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States

Current FAA registration · N9946X

Make / Model: CESSNA 185
Year of manufacture: 1961 · 26 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR I0-470 SERIES (260 hp)
Seats / Engines: 6 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19610804
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S ADE4BF

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N9946X Cessna 185 None

Factual narrative

THE RELATIVELY INEXPERIENCED SEAPLANE PILOT-IN-COMMAND MADE ONE GO AROUND WHEN HE EXPERIENCED DIFFICULTY IN IDENTIFYING THE SURFACE OF THE GLASSY WATER. ON THE SECOND LANDING ATTEMPT HE FLEW THE AIRPLANE INTO THE WATER AT A NEGATIVE ANGLE OF ATTACK. THE AIRPLANE STAYED RIGHT SIDE UP IN SPITE OF A PARTIAL CARTWHEEL TO THE RIGHT. IT THEN ROLLED ONTO THE LEFT WING BEFORE RIGHTING ITSELF. DAMAGE WAS SUBSTANTIAL. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_ANC88FA012.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type. All research papers