Cessna 185 accidents

The NTSB database holds 1,004 accidents and incidents involving the Cessna 185, recorded between 1964 to 2025. 83 of them were fatal (8%), and 176 people died.

The deadliest year was 1977, with 12 deaths.

The phase of flight recorded most often is landing (252 records).

Most of these records are from United States, Canada and Africa.

617 of these records have no coordinates in the source data, so they appear in the list below but not on the map.

1,004

Records

Fatal

176

Deaths

Share fatal

1964 to 2025

Period

Show these on the map 387 of 1,004 have coordinates

By decade

1960s 138

1970s 327

1980s 223

1990s 173

2000s 103

2010s 24

2020s 16

Where these happened

United States 979 Canada 5 Africa 3 Unknown/Not Reported 2 Colombia 2 Argentina 1

Operators involved

Wien Alaska Airlines, Inc. 5 Frontier Flyin 4 Homer Air Serv 4 Intracoastal S 3 Green River AV 3 Foster Aviatio 3

All 1,004 records by number of deaths, then by date

Date	Aircraft	Location	Operator	Outcome	Died
26 Aug 1997	Cessna 185E N454CF	King Salmon, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
25 Aug 1997	Cessna 185F N20752	Barrow, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
19 Aug 1997	Cessna 185 N3RY	Karluk, Alaska, United States no coordinates	Whistler Air Service	Minor injuries	-
14 Aug 1997	Cessna 185 N1023F	Buckeye, Arizona, United States	-	No injuries	-
9 Aug 1997	Cessna 185 N5246E	Chickaloon, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
25 Jul 1997	Cessna 185 N8717Z	Norway, Maine, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
23 Jul 1997	Cessna 185 N9855X	Talkeetna, Alaska, United States	Hudson Air Service, Inc.	No injuries	-
24 Jun 1997	Cessna 185 N4952E	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
19 Jun 1997	Cessna 185F N60859	Sitka, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
13 May 1997	Cessna 185 N1005F	Cordova, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
24 Apr 1997	Cessna 185 N4641E	Pella, Iowa, United States	-	No injuries	-
17 Apr 1997	Cessna 185F N8310Q	Manley, Alaska, United States no coordinates	Robin L. Maher	No injuries	-
11 Apr 1997	Cessna 185D N285BG	Wetumpka, Alabama, United States	Richard Meyer	No injuries	-
27 Mar 1997	Cessna 185 N4855C	Chugiak, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
23 Feb 1997	Cessna 185F N93189	Delta Junction, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
23 Feb 1997	Cessna 185F N4471R	Ketchikan, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
2 Jan 1997	Cessna 185F N23CB	Nome, Alaska, United States	Bruce H. Tweet	Minor injuries	-
3 Oct 1996	Cessna 185 N185ND	Finley, North Dakota, United States	-	No injuries	-
28 Sep 1996	Cessna 185 N222WH	Nome, Alaska, United States	John D. Walsh	No injuries	-
6 Aug 1996	Cessna 185 N8536L	Kaktovik, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
2 Aug 1996	Cessna 185 N20752	Wainwright, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
28 Jul 1996	Cessna 185 N70018	Talkeetna, Alaska, United States	-	Minor injuries	-
4 Jul 1996	Cessna 185 N185CA	Fairbanks, Alaska, United States	U.s. Fish and Wildlife Service	Minor injuries	-
11 Jun 1996	Cessna 185F N56581	Gustavus, Alaska, United States	National Park Service	No injuries	-
12 May 1996	Cessna 185 N58LE	Providence, Kentucky, United States	Neil Kaufman	Minor injuries	-
3 May 1996	Cessna 185 N70039	Kodiak, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
8 Apr 1996	Cessna 185F N61905	Placerville, California, United States	-	No injuries	-
6 Apr 1996	Cessna 185 N1692M	Fairbanks, Alaska, United States	Donald J. Hoshaw	No injuries	-
31 Mar 1996	Cessna 185 N9875X	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
13 Mar 1996	Cessna 185 N93829	Cripple, Alaska, United States	Hageland Aviation	No injuries	-
7 Mar 1996	Cessna 185 N9211T	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
4 Mar 1996	Cessna 185F N5246E	Skwentna, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
27 Oct 1995	Cessna 185 N1095F	Kodiak, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
22 Oct 1995	Cessna 185 N4755Q	Yakutat, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
4 Sep 1995	Cessna 185F N9222H	Salem, Oregon, United States	Wayne E Cartwright	Minor injuries	-
15 Aug 1995	Cessna 185A N4145Y	Teller, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
12 Jul 1995	Cessna 185C N725	Bettles, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
1 Jul 1995	Cessna 185 N555WK	Talkeetna, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
29 Jun 1995	Cessna 185 N9667Q	Fairbanks, Alaska, United States	Crathern, Charles	No injuries	-
26 May 1995	Cessna 185 N1047F	Talkeetna, Alaska, United States	Doug Geeting Aviation	Minor injuries	-
30 Apr 1995	Cessna 185 N111EZ	Ketchikan, Alaska, United States	Island Wings Air Service	No injuries	-
24 Apr 1995	Cessna 185 N62EC	Bangor, Maine, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
31 Mar 1995	Cessna 185-F FAH12	Tegucigalpa, Honduras no coordinates	Fuerza Aerea Honduras	Unknown	-
17 Mar 1995	Cessna 185 N714MX	Baudette, Minnesota, United States	-	No injuries	-
4 Mar 1995	Cessna 185F N6166N	Port Alsworth, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
6 Feb 1995	Cessna 185 N9CR	McCall, Idaho, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
1 Feb 1995	Cessna 185F N1095F	W.point Village, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
22 Dec 1994	Cessna 185A N101LL	Long Beach, California, United States	Robert J. van Horn	No injuries	-
12 Dec 1994	Cessna 185 N4552F	Takotna, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	Serious injuries	-
19 Nov 1994	Cessna 185F N9618H	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-