On May 4, 1992, a Cessna 340 (registration N69469) operated by Roth, Jeffrey H. was involved in an aviation accident near Yakutat, AK. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: MISSING AIRCRAFT DUE TO UNDETERMINED CAUSES. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
An airplane on an IFR flight from Yakutat to Anchorage, Alaska, went missing in instrument conditions after the pilot reported level at 12,000 feet. Subsequent communications could not be confirmed, and damage and injuries are presumed.
Incident
An airplane became missing while operating under instrument flight rules (IFR) in instrument meteorological conditions. The flight was en route from Yakutat, Alaska, to Anchorage, Alaska. After the pilot reported reaching the assigned altitude of 12,000 feet mean sea level (MSL), no further radio communication was received from the aircraft.
Investigation
Following the disappearance, the pilot's wife reviewed recordings of air traffic control communications provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). She stated that several minutes after the point identified by the FAA as the last transmission from the pilot, she heard her husband say something about '6,000' and 'icing conditions'. An enhancement examination of the audio tapes conducted by the FBI Laboratory was unable to confirm this purported transmission. The condition of the aircraft and its occupants is presumed, with damage and injuries assumed to have occurred.