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Plane CrashesVersion 2

NTSB Investigating Piper PA-31 Accident Near Kotlik, Alaska

The accident record lists Paklook Air as the operator and shows substantial damage to the aircraft; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 10:02 a.m. ET
The National Transportation Safety Board has an open investigation into an accident involving a near Kotlik, Alaska, on October 1, 2025, at about local time, according to the NTSB accident record. The event is developing and details remain limited. The accident record identifies the operator as and the aircraft as , and classifies the flight as a Part 135 commuter or on-demand operation. The record lists the aircraft as having sustained substantial damage. It does not list injury counts, which is usual for a preliminary filing. The cause has not been determined. Aircraft registry records list as a , a twin-engine piston landplane with Lycoming TIO-540 series engines and serial number 31-639, registered in the United States. The registry lists the registered owner as Anthony J. Spangler; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight. Weather observations recorded at Kotlik Airport (PFKO), 0.8 miles from the location and 14 minutes from the reported time, showed wind from 150 degrees at 13 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, scattered cloud at 2,500 feet and a temperature of 41°F. Geographic reference data places Kotlik in Alaska's Unorganized Borough, with the settlement itself at an elevation of 0 feet, 0.8 miles west of Kotlik Airport and 34 miles east-northeast of Emmonak Airport (PAEM/EMK). No conclusion about the cause can be drawn from these measurements. For the type, the NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains 5 other cases involving the , of which 4 involved a fatality. That count is a matter of record and says nothing about the cause of this accident. The NTSB investigation remains open.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
N16SC
Type
Piper PA-31 — twin-engine piston landplane
Engines
LYCOMING TI0-540 SER
Registered owner
Spangler Anthony JThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
0 ft
Nearest aerodrome
0.8 miles W of Kotlik Airport (PFKO/KOT)

Sources

No sources recorded.

Revision history

  1. Version 27 Aug 2026, 14:02current

    Corrected the garbled Emmonak Airport bearing and clarified that the 0 ft elevation refers to the settlement.

  2. Version 15 Aug 2026, 20:26

    First published.

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