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
27 Jun 1988	Cessna 185F N53042	Barter Island, Alaska, United States no coordinates	Canning Air Service	No injuries	-
17 May 1988	Cessna 185E N1592F	Tuntutuliak, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
10 May 1988	Cessna 185 N1701R	Mercer Island, Washington, United States	-	No injuries	-
6 May 1988	Cessna 185F N22901	Hunter Creek, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	Minor injuries	-
30 Apr 1988	Cessna 185F N8389Q	Erie, Colorado, United States	-	No injuries	-
17 Apr 1988	Cessna 185 N5060R	Fairbanks, Alaska, United States	Windsor, Robert W.	No injuries	-
11 Apr 1988	Cessna 185 N4695E	Hopedale, Massachusetts, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
10 Mar 1988	Cessna 185F N5045R	Ophir, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
13 Feb 1988	Cessna 185E CFCTO	Redding, California, United States	-	No injuries	-
20 Nov 1987	Cessna 185 N7370H	Burnet, Texas, United States	James Bath	No injuries	-
26 Oct 1987	Cessna 185 N9946X	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	Edward G. Barber, JR.	No injuries	-
17 Sep 1987	Cessna 185 N9914X	Little Delta Rv, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
16 Sep 1987	Cessna 185 N1050F	Wind River, Alaska, United States no coordinates	Audi Air	No injuries	-
15 Sep 1987	Cessna 185 N5416R	Mt. Watana, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
6 Sep 1987	Cessna 185F N93018	Wasilla, Alaska, United States no coordinates	DON Tanner	No injuries	-
16 Aug 1987	Cessna 185 N9930X	San Marcos, Texas, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
29 Jul 1987	Cessna 185F N9003H	Hollywood, Florida, United States	Eduardo Escobar	Serious injuries	-
28 Jul 1987	Cessna 185A N1686Z	Hillsboro, North Dakota, United States	Jeff Faught	No injuries	-
18 Jul 1987	Cessna 185 N1977U	King Salmon, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
11 Jul 1987	Cessna 185 N8593Q	Lake Chelan, Washington, United States	Nordic Marine Inc.	No injuries	-
11 Jul 1987	Cessna 185 N5430R	Aleknagik, Alaska, United States	James T. Broady	No injuries	-
28 Jun 1987	Cessna 185 N70018	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	Frank E. Nyman	No injuries	-
30 May 1987	Cessna 185 N177BM	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	-	Minor injuries	-
28 Apr 1987	Cessna 185 N2223T	Kenai, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
13 Apr 1987	Cessna 185 N1774R	Burnett Inlet, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
15 Mar 1987	Cessna 185F N9618H	Skwentna, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
13 Mar 1987	Cessna 185A N3306R	Midland, Texas, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
1 Mar 1987	Cessna 185F N2449J	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	Raymond A. Powell	No injuries	-
9 Feb 1987	Cessna 185C N2691Z	Cedar City, Utah, United States	Keith R. Hooker, Inc.	No injuries	-
27 Jan 1987	Cessna 185D N75LE	North Pole, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
3 Dec 1986	Cessna 185 N6992N	Skwentna, Alaska, United States	-	Minor injuries	-
29 Nov 1986	Cessna 185D N1502F	St. Paul, Minnesota, United States	Gerald Olsen	No injuries	-
15 Nov 1986	Cessna 185F N9680H	Ithaca, New York, United States	-	No injuries	-
27 Oct 1986	Cessna 185 N5195H	Oakley, Kansas, United States no coordinates	Four Winds Aviation	No injuries	-
1 Oct 1986	Cessna 185-F II N4631E	Juneau, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
21 Sep 1986	Cessna 185C N2674Z	Broomfield, Colorado, United States	-	Serious injuries	-
7 Sep 1986	Cessna 185 N2262T	St. John, Washington, United States no coordinates	-	Minor injuries	-
18 Aug 1986	Cessna 185-F N3367R	Caribou Lake, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
16 Aug 1986	Cessna 185 N1802R	Anchorage, Alaska, United States	Stephen T. Harms	No injuries	-
4 Aug 1986	Cessna 185FII N185M	Reno, Nevada, United States	Thomas M. Turner	Minor injuries	-
30 Jul 1986	Cessna 185E N1613M	Tetlin, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
16 Jun 1986	Cessna 185F N70438	Naknek, Alaska, United States	Tyson H. Whittock	No injuries	-
5 Jun 1986	Cessna 185 N9397N	Boise, Idaho, United States	Robert N. Rebholtz	No injuries	-
2 May 1986	Cessna 185 N9706H	Bethel, Alaska, United States	-	No injuries	-
4 Apr 1986	Cessna 185F N1867Q	Point Aufer, Louisiana, United States	Charlie Hammond	No injuries	-
15 Feb 1986	Cessna 185 N70308	McCarthy, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
20 Jan 1986	Cessna 185 N1573F	St. Ignace, Michigan, United States	-	No injuries	-
20 Dec 1985	Cessna 185 N4520F	Aleknagik, Alaska, United States no coordinates	-	No injuries	-
18 Nov 1985	Cessna 185 N4732E	Leeville, Louisiana, United States no coordinates	La-Tex Gulf Drilling	No injuries	-
23 Oct 1985	Cessna 185 N8475Q	Block Island, Rhode Island, United States no coordinates	-	Minor injuries	-