N981AK

N981AK is a Cessna TU206 Turbo Stationair, a single-engine piston aircraft operated by STATE OF ALASKA, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY. SkyMeter has tracked 104 flights totalling 150 hours of airtime via ADS-B. The most frequent segment is PAFA to PAFA. Service window in our records spans 326 days. Of those flights, 12 (11.5%) carry at least one detected incident — go-around, unstable approach, stall warning, or runway excursion. The Cessna TU206 Turbo Stationair has a maximum takeoff weight of 3,600 lb.

About the Cessna TU206 Turbo Stationair

The Cessna T206H Turbo Stationair is the turbocharged variant of Cessna's venerable Stationair family, a high-wing utility single that has served bush pilots, cargo operators, and backcountry adventurers since the 1960s. The turbocharger—driving a Continental TSIO-520-M engine producing 310 horsepower—gives the T206H a decisive advantage over its normally aspirated sibling: it maintains sea-level power up to around 20,000 feet, making it the go-to choice for mountain operations in the Rockies, Andes, and Himalayas where density altitude can cripple non-turbocharged engines. With a 3,600-pound max takeoff weight and seating for up to six, the Turbo Stationair hauls people and cargo into short, high-elevation strips that would ground most other singles.

The T206H's rugged fixed tricycle gear, large cabin door, and forgiving handling make it a workhorse for remote operations—floatplane conversions are common in Alaska and Canada, where the type routinely lands on lakes and rivers inaccessible by road. Its 140-knot max structural cruise speed and 174-knot never-exceed speed are modest by modern standards, but the aircraft's real capability lies in its short-field performance and ability to operate from unimproved surfaces. The turbocharged engine does demand careful mixture management and higher operating costs than the naturally aspirated 206, but operators who need the altitude performance consider it indispensable.

SkyMeter has tracked flights across airframes and operators, with the largest observed operator.