• 57-6177 US Army # 1851. L-20 No. 852. Command A-14. Delivered 12-Dec-1958. Built as L-20A and re designated U-6A in 1962.
• 57-6177 Served with 224th Aviation Battalion & 156th Aviation Company (RR) at Can Tho in South Vietnam in 1966 as an RU-6A
• N616W (2) AK Island Air Inc., Petersburg, AK. Regd Aug-1973. On USCAR at 02-Mar-1990.
Accident: Sitka 28-Feb-1973. The pilot was preparing to land under low cloud and in snow. On approach the engine lost power possibly because of carburettor icing. The pilot was forced to land near to the shore and float hit rocks Aircraft substantially damaged. NTSB report ANC73AA042
Accident; Petersburg, AK. 09-Aug-1976. Float-equipped aircraft made a precautionary landing on water, in fog. A hard landing caused substantial damage. Pilot and seven passengers uninjured. NTSB report ANC76AA120.
Airworthiness Date 18-Jan-1977. Category – Normal.
• N616W (2) Pacific Wings Inc., Petersburg, AK. Regd 25-Jun-1991. Canx 10-May-2011.
• N616W (2) Sunrise Aviation Inc. Wrangell, AK. Regd 14-May-2011.
Accident: Le Conte Bay, Petersburg, AK. 04-Jun-2013, The aircraft was being operated by Pacific Wings Inc. The pilot reported that the accident flight was his fourth flight and the third tour flight of the day in a float-equipped airplane. The weather had deteriorated throughout the day with lowering ceilings, light rain, and fog on the mountain ridges. The pilot said that when approaching a mountain pass, he initiated a climb by adding a “little bit” of flap (about 1 pump of the flap handle actuator) but did not adjust the engine power from the cruise power setting. He noted his airspeed at 80 knots, with a 200-feet-per-minute climb on the vertical speed indicator. He was having difficulty seeing over the cowling due to the nose-high attitude, when he suddenly noticed trees in his flight path. He initiated an immediate left turn; the airplane stalled, and began to drop, impacting the mountainous, tree-covered terrain. A passenger reported that the weather conditions at the time of the accident consisted of tufts of low clouds, and good visibility. They did not enter the clouds at any time during the flight. He reported that the airplane made a left turn, stalled, and then made a sharp left turn right before impact. The airplane seemed to be operating fine, and he heard no unusual sounds, other than the engine speed seemed to increase significantly right before impact. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation, and the post accident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The sightseeing float plane crashed in Le Conte Bay in southeast AK, close to Petersburg. About 15:47, approximately 16 minutes after the accident, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) AK received a 406 Mhz emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal assigned to the accident airplane. At approximately 16:14, after being notified of an overdue airplane, and after learning about reports of an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal along the accident pilot's anticipated flight route, search and rescue personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, began a search for the missing airplane. About 18:16, the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter located the airplane's wreckage in an area of mountainous, tree-covered terrain. A rescue swimmer was lowered to the accident site and discovered that one of the airplane's occupants died at the scene, and six others had survived the crash. The six survivors were hoisted aboard the HH-60 helicopter, and then transported to Petersburg.
Total time: 34,909.3 flight hours at Jun 2013.
• N616W (2). Shown as expired 31-May-2014.
• Fuselage stored at Anchorage (Aug-2018).
