Cessna 172 N8739B

Summary

On 3 September 1996 at about 01:30 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N8739B was involved in an accident near Eagle River, Alaska, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 September 1996 at 01:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Eagle River, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.2098, -149.2502

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N8739B

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC96FA141

3 people died.

The first pilot's failure to maintain sufficient distance/altitude from terrain. A box canyon and mountainous terrain are factors in the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Two certificated airline transport pilots and a passenger planned an aerial scouting flight, looking for sheep in mountainous terrain. After departure, the flight did not return and the airplane was located crashed into the side of a steep box canyon. All of the occupants were located outside of, and downslope from the wreckage, having egressed from the wreckage through the left door. The manner and circumstances of their egress was not determined. No mechanical malfunction of the engine or airframe were found.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.