Crooked Creek - Aniak

On January 16, 2008 at 12:15 PM, Crooked Creek - Aniak experienced a crash involving Cessna 207 Skywagon/Stationair, operated by Inland Aviation Services, with the event recorded near Aniak Alaska.

The flight was categorized as positioning and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a plain, valley crash site.

1 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 1 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: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The commercial certificated pilot was returning from a remote village after a round robin flight of about 130 miles over a frozen and snow-covered river. He was in cruise flight about 500 feet agl, but then circled while holding between 6 or 7 miles east of his destination airport, awaiting a special VFR (SVFR) clearance. The weather condition in that area was about 1 mile visibility, with a ceiling of about 1,000 feet agl. After receiving his SVFR clearance, the pilot flew toward the airport, but the engine fuel pressure began fluctuating. The engine rpm began decreasing, along with the airplane's altitude. The pilot switched fuel tanks, selected full flaps, and prepared for a forced landing. He said the weather was near white-out conditions, but he could see the bank of the river. After switching fuel tanks from the left to the right tank, the engine power suddenly returned to full power. He applied forward flight control pressure to prevent the airplane from climbing too fast, but the airplane collided with the surface of the river. The airplane sustained structural damage to the wings and fuselage. At the time of the accident, the ceiling at the airport was 600 feet obscured, with a visibility of 1/2 mile in snow. Neither the fuel status of the accident airplane, nor the mechanical condition of the engine, were verified by either the NTSB or FAA.

Aircraft reference details include registration N1701U, MSN 207-0301, year of manufacture 1975.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 61.5809°, -159.5364°.