On August 25, 2012, about 1300 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna U206D airplane, N729RV, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing, following a loss of engine power, near Nikolai, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal cross country flight under the provisions of Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight departed Palmer, Alaska at 1137.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on August 27, the pilot stated that he was in level cruise flight when the engine lost oil pressure, followed by smoke in the cockpit, and a total loss of engine power. He made a forced landing to a gravel bar on the Kuskokwim River. On landing the airplane slid across a shallow creek and impacted the river bank, sustaining substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. In the pilot’s written statement to the NTSB received on December 2, 2012, he reported that the airplane’s wreckage was not recovered until August 28, and during that time, rising creek waters partially submerged the airplane’s wreckage, which washed all of the contents of the airplane downstream, including all of the accident airplane’s engine and airframe logbooks. Due to the remote location, the airplane was not examined by the NTSB at the accident site, and the engine was not made available to the NTSB, and thus no determination was made as to why the engine lost power.