• N490AS de Havilland Canada Inc., Downsview, ON. Rolled out 17-May-1974. First flight 17-May-1974.

• N490AS US Dept of the Interior, Boise, ID. Delivered and regd 04-Jun-1974 and 06-Mar-1976.

Airworthiness Cert 14-May-1987.

• N49SJ Re regd to US Dept of the Interior / NBC (National Business Center) Aviation Management Boise ID, 19-Aug-1998.

Accident:  Snake River Skydiving airport, Star, Idaho. 01-May-2001. The pilot reported that, after a flight to train smoke jumpers, during the landing roll, the aircraft began to veer to the left. When aileron and rudder control were not effective to re-align the aircraft's direction of travel, the pilot transferred over to the nose wheel steering control. The pilot applied corrective input all the way to the right when he heard a "clink" sound. The aircraft exited the side of the runway and collided with the terrain. Post-accident inspection of the aircraft found that the nose wheel steering cable was broken. The cable was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board Materials Laboratory for examination. The specialist reported that the end of many wires exhibited fractures on a flat plane that was perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, typical of a fatigue crack. About 90 percent of the flat areas extended through the fracture face. The metallurgist reported that approximately 50 percent of the wires from the cable contained fatigue cracking. NTSB No. SEA01TA083.

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