de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Accidents: What Passengers and Families Should Know

What Kind of Airplane and Flight Were You On?

The DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engine airplane built by de Havilland. The NTSB's records describe it as an airplane with one reciprocating (piston) engine, listed under model names such as "DHC-2," "DHC-2 MK.I" and "BEAVER DHC-2 MK.1." Two of the records list a certified maximum gross weight of 5,600 pounds, and seating ranges from seven to nine seats depending on how the airplane is set up.

Many Beavers in service are old airframes; the records below list years of manufacture of 1951 and 1957 for two of them. Several describe the airplane as float-equipped, which is why a search for a beaver floatplane crash so often leads to this type. Others involve landings on remote airstrips and creek banks.

The flights in these records were operated under Part 91, the general aviation rules, and each is described as "General aviation - Business," including flights to fishing lodges and between remote points in Alaska. Other Beaver flights may be operated as charter or air taxi flights. A charter (Part 135) operator is a company that holds an FAA certificate to fly passengers or cargo for hire under a stricter set of rules.

For a passenger or a family, this is more than background. The kind of flight and operator decides which federal operating rules applied to the trip, and it is often one of the first facts raised in any later conversation about responsibility. If you are unsure whether a trip was a lodge's own flight or a charter, booking papers and the operator's name are the details that tend to answer it.

Who Investigates, and What Can the NTSB Report Be Used For?

Two federal agencies touch nearly every Beaver accident. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues the certificates that pilots, mechanics and operators hold, and sets the standards that keep an airplane legally airworthy. The NTSB's reports note that it serves as "the appellate authority for enforcement actions involving aviation and mariner certificates issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)."

The agency that will investigate your accident is the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which describes itself as "an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States." It states that "we determine the probable causes of the accidents and events we investigate, and issue safety recommendations." For a family, the key product is the probable cause: the NTSB's own statement of what most likely led to the accident, which appears in the final report at the end of the investigation.

An investigation moves in stages. A preliminary report is an early document with basic facts, marked "This information is preliminary and subject to change," and it contains no probable cause. A final report closes the investigation and carries the probable-cause statement. Until then, the investigation is open.

The NTSB is also clear about what its work is not. Its reports state that "The NTSB does not assign fault or blame for an accident or incident," and that its investigations "are not conducted for the purpose of determining the rights or liabilities of any person."

Federal law goes a step further. Under 49 U.S.C. § 1154(b), "No part of a report of the Board, related to an accident or an investigation of an accident, may be admitted into evidence or used in a civil action for damages resulting from a matter mentioned in the report." The NTSB's reports add that "A factual report that may be admissible under 49 United States Code section 1154(b) is available."

What is at stake is practical: an NTSB report can explain what investigators found, but a civil claim has to be built on its own evidence. A family waiting on a final report may weigh which other records exist and how the separate factual report fits in, a question an attorney can help sort out.

What the Recent Beaver Accident Records Show

The five records below are the most recent U.S. records in the NTSB's dataset naming the DHC-2 Beaver, newest first, as the site gathered them. They are the site's own selection, not an NTSB statistic. In each, the highest injury recorded is "None." Each is described only as the NTSB's report states it.

ANC26LA086, August 6, 2026, Igiugig, Alaska. The NTSB's Aviation Investigation Notification - Accident Number: ANC26LA086 lists a DEHAVILLAND DHC-2 with substantial damage, one crew member and seven passengers, all recorded as uninjured. It states that "A preliminary report will not be issued but a final report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation." This investigation is open. No probable cause has been stated.

ANC26LA072, July 19, 2026, Nondalton, Alaska. The NTSB's Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report - Accident Number: ANC26LA072 covers a DHC-2 MK.I that was substantially damaged after landing on a remote airstrip. The report records what the pilot reported about the right brake and states that "A postaccident examination of the brake system is pending." The pilot's account is not a finding. This investigation is open, and no probable cause has been stated.

ANC25LA085, August 9, 2025, Soldotna, Alaska. The NTSB's Aviation Investigation Final Report - Accident Number: ANC25LA085 covers a float-equipped DEHAVILLAND DHC-2 MK 1 and lists "Injuries: 5 None." It is a final report. The NTSB's stated probable cause is "The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from rising terrain while maneuvering at low altitude."

ANC25LA074, July 11, 2025, Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. The NTSB's Aviation Investigation Final Report - Accident Number: ANC25LA074 covers a BEAVER DHC-2 MK.1 built in 1957. The NTSB's stated probable cause is "The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a creek bank while maneuvering to land."

ANC25LA068, July 6, 2025, Kokhanok, Alaska. The NTSB's Aviation Investigation Final Report - Accident Number: ANC25LA068 covers a float-equipped BEAVER DHC-2 MK.1 built in 1951. The NTSB's stated probable cause is "The pilot's failure to attain a proper touchdown point during landing which resulted in a hard landing."

Each finding applies only to its own accident and says nothing about other Beavers, other flights or the type as a whole. Other pages on this site, such as the Pilatus PC-12 records and the Beechcraft King Air records, read NTSB records the same way.

For someone involved in an accident like these, the stage matters: an open investigation has no stated cause yet, while a final one does. If you are looking for your own accident's record, the accident number, date and place are what locate it, and whether it is preliminary or final shapes what it can tell you today.

Why the Airplane's Maintenance History Can Matter

An airplane built in the 1950s can still fly passengers today, but only through decades of inspection and repair. The NTSB's final reports for the accidents above list the date and type of the last inspection, an annual inspection in one record and a 100-hour inspection in another, along with the hours flown since.

For an older airplane, one record that may matter to a passenger is whether the FAA's airworthiness directives were followed. An airworthiness directive is an FAA order that applies to a particular aircraft type or part and calls for an inspection, a repair or a change. An older airframe may also have been modified over the years. Whether any directive or modification touches a specific accident is something that airplane's records answer, not a general assumption about the type.

The airplane's condition is one of the facts that may be looked at in a claim, alongside how the flight was flown. If you were hurt, the records that usually matter include the maintenance logbooks, airworthiness directive compliance records, the operator's certificates, and the NTSB docket, which the final reports point to for each case.

None of this suggests that any airplane or operator above was poorly maintained. The NTSB's stated probable causes are the only causes this page reports.

What Legal Claims After a DHC-2 Beaver Crash Can Look Like

State law decides most claims after an aviation accident. The deadline to bring a claim, how fault is shared, and what losses the law allows all differ from state to state. All five records above are Alaska accidents, but no single state's rule applies everywhere. The aviation accident claims overview explains how the federal aviation layer and state law stay separate.

Most claims start with the question of whether someone was careless. That is the negligence theory, and it asks whether someone owed a duty of care, whether that duty was breached, whether the breach caused the harm, and what damages resulted. A crash on its own does not prove negligence; each element depends on the facts.

Product liability asks whether the aircraft or a part had a defect that caused the harm. An accident does not prove a defect. On an older airframe, questions about who made, rebuilt or changed a part can shape the theory.

Wrongful death is a claim that state law gives certain surviving family members when a death results from another's wrongful act. Who may bring it and what losses it covers differ by state; the page on aviation wrongful death claims covers this further. The Death on the High Seas Act is a federal statute that may govern a death over waters far from shore. Whether it reaches a floatplane accident depends on where it happened and the facts.

Damages, where allowed, generally fall into categories such as medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and wrongful-death damages. What is recoverable, if anything, depends on the facts and the state's law.

For a person weighing next steps, the theories point to different evidence: how the flight was flown, the airplane's parts and history, and where it happened. Which theory may fit, and under which state's law, is the kind of question an attorney can help sort out.

Questions Worth Asking Before Speaking With an Aviation Attorney

A first conversation often turns on a few plain questions. What kind of flight was it: a lodge's business flight, a charter, an air taxi or a sightseeing trip? Who operated the airplane, and what certificate did that operator hold? Where did the flight leave from, and where did the accident happen?

If you were hurt, or lost someone, the records that usually matter include the NTSB record, any other incident or accident report, medical records, photos or video, booking or trip information, and the names of other passengers and witnesses. The NTSB record has limits, since 49 U.S.C. § 1154(b) keeps the report itself out of a civil case.

Timing is the other open question. Each state sets its own limitation period, and when it starts to run and its exceptions differ by state and by type of claim. Which state's law applies can itself be a question when the flight crossed borders or the people involved live in different states.

A conversation with our attorney can help sort out which records exist and which state's rules may come into play. If that would help, you may want to consider a case evaluation request.