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ANC92FA116 · de Havilland DHC-2 MARK 1 DHC-2 MARK

30 Jul 1992 · Dillingham, AK, United States

de Havilland DHC-2 MARK 1 DHC-2 MARK · Accident: loss of control in flight while maneuvering

From BRISTOL BAY LDG, AK to TOGIAK RIVER CP, AK

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Event

NTSB case
ANC92FA116
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
6 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

de Havilland DHC-2 MARK 1 DHC-2 MARK

Aircraft type
de Havilland DHC-2
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N67151
Operator
Ronald R. Mcmillian · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From BRISTOL BAY LDG, AKTo TOGIAK RIVER CP, AK
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering · turn to reverse direction
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Loss of control in flight
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Stall
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Airspeed, not maintained
  • Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, delayed

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE DESTINATION CAMP IS LOCATED ABOUT 50 MI SW OF THE DEPARTURE LODGE, AND IS SEPARATED BY MOUNTAINS WITH SOME PEAKS OVER 4,000 FT ASL. THE GENERAL AREA WEATHER INCLUDED LOW CEILINGS. THE OPERATOR STATED THAT SHORTLY BEFORE THE ACCIDENT HE OBSERVED THE YOUTH CREEK WEATHER 'BETTER THAN 400 FEET...', AND TOLD THE PILOT THAT IT APPEARED GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE THE FLIGHT. THE PILOT STATED THAT AS HE FLEW UP YOUTH CREEK HE COULD SEE THAT THE PASS WAS CLOSED BY LOW CLOUDS AND ATTEMPTED TO REVERSE DIRECTION. THE PILOT STATED HE 'MADE A HARD STEEP TURN, AND THE AIRPLANE STALLED...' THE PILOT SAID THE WEATHER WAS ABOUT 800 FT CEILING AND VISIBILITY OF 1 MI. WHEN THE PILOT WAS ADMITTED INTO THE HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE ACCIDENT, HE WAS DIAGNOSED AS HAVING AN INSULIN DEPENDENT DIABETIC CONDITION. HIS MEDICAL RECORDS CONTAIN NO EVIDENCE OF, AND THE PILOT DENIED ANY KNOWLEDGE OF, ANY PRE-ACCIDENT DIABETIC CONDITION.

Probable cause

THE PILOT'S DELAYED DECISION IN REVERSING COURSE AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED DURING THE MANEUVER. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN AND A LOW CEILING.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record ANC92FA116
Event ID
20001211X15018
Case number
ANC92FA116
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 4fbce41abd17a7c4ba9fd8b9685d32386f161b389c99fa835e6d299ba85b5e89; retrieved 2026-09-21T01:01:19.745Z.