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SEA88FA167

1988-09-05 · SITKA, Alaska, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N111VA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (SIKORSKY S-55, built 1953), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT ENCOUNTERED LOW CEILINGS, RAIN AND FOG WHILE ATTEMPTING TO FLY THROUGH A NARROW MOUNTAIN PASS AND SUCCESSFULLY REVERSED COURSE. HE THEN FLEW INTO A SMALL CANYON OFF THE MAIN PASS THAT TERMINATED IN A SMALL GLACIER-COVERED BOWL SURROUNDED BY STEEP ROCK WALLS. WHEN IT BECAME APPARENT DURING A TURN TO REVERSE COURSE THAT THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT SPACE TO COMPLETE THE MANEUVER BEFORE COLLISION WITH A ROCK WALL, THE PILOT RETARDED THE THROTTLES AND CRASH LANDED ON A GLACIER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_SEA88FA167.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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