Dillingham – Togiak – Manokotak – Togiak – Dillingham

On December 17, 1998 at 05:40 PM, Dillingham – Togiak – Manokotak – Togiak – Dillingham experienced a crash involving Cessna 207 Skywagon/Stationair, operated by Yute Air Alaska, with the event recorded near Manokotak Alaska.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a mountains crash site.

2 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 2 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 1, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The certificated commercial pilot and the pilot-rated, nonrevenue passenger, departed at night from a remote village airport on the last leg of a VFR scheduled air taxi flight. The destination airport was 17 nautical miles northeast of the departure point. After departure, the pilot said he encountered severe turbulence and entered a snow squall where the visibility dropped below 1 mile. The pilot said he was in instrument meteorological conditions, and a strong surface wind was blowing the airplane toward the southwest. He began correcting his course toward the southeast, and then collided with a snow-covered hill. The passenger said that light snow showers were falling in the area, along with turbulence and strong winds from the northeast. After departing on the accident flight, snow showers intensified, and the pilot turned toward the south, away from the intended destination. About 10 minutes after takeoff, the passenger inquired about the direction of flight, and the pilot said he was going to head to the coast and follow it to the destination. The visibility was about 1 mile. No ground features were visible until the passenger saw snow-covered terrain about 3 feet below the airplane. The airplane then collided with terrain. The pilot indicated he obtained a weather briefing from an FAA Flight Service Station.

Aircraft reference details include registration N1764U, MSN 207-0364, year of manufacture 1976.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 58.9804°, -159.0580°.