Alaskan bear guide and a well-known pilot feared dead in crash

[Scott CWO]

Just heard from a friend that a plane crash in Western Alaska likely killed the pilot and a grizzly bear guide that worked for my friend, Lance Kronberger of Freelance Adventures. Reports are sketchy at the moment but I don’t think Lance, himself, was the guide killed.

African and Alaskan DG hunts can be risky and all the bush flights in Alaska add another element of risk. My prayers go out to Lance and the families of the victims.

Jim Tweto, legendary Alaska bush pilot, believed to be in Cessna that went down in Western Alaska - Must Read Alaska

Note: This story is likely to be updated several times in the coming hours as information becomes available. The National Transportation Safety Board is responding to a plane crash in Western Alaska, in the area of Shaktoolik and Unalakleet. Troopers are en route to the site but as of this...

mustreadalaska.com

 

[Ridge Runner]

Pray and hope for the best that the storyline changes for the better and not the worst.

 

[Mekaniks]

Prayers and thanks for sharing. Does not sound good

 

[DLSJR]

I’m Saddened to read this. Over the years several guides/pilots I’ve hunted and/or flown with have died in crashes up there.

It would be interesting to find out what contributed to this one given how experienced Jim Tweto was and that much of the terrain around Unalakleet is fairly mild by Alaska standards. The ones I’ve known who died in crashes were all in big mountainous terrain.

 

[WAB]

Very sad to hear this. We lost some good friends to plane crashes when we lived there. Life in the bush can be very unforgiving.

 

[freefall]

I've heard that up here, you have a life expectancy of 250-400k miles in small aircraft. Can't say how true it is, but the little ones go down most often. I DO know they make me damn uneasy.

 

[WAB]

Flying is easy when everything is going right. Push the weather or have a mechanical and the pucker factor gets intense in a hurry.

 

[freefall]

when you have one engine,,,

 

[WAB]

Yep, I’ll never forget the first time my instructor switched the engine off and started screaming.

 

[CD24]

Flying is easy when everything is going right. Push the weather or have a mechanical and the pucker factor gets intense in a hurry.

Isn't that the truth. I love it when people tell me that the computer does all of the work anyway.

 

[uplander01]

Alaska is a dangerous place to fly, those pilots are a different breed. My thoughts and prayers for these guys.

 

[WAB]

Alaska is a dangerous place to fly, those pilots are a different breed. My thoughts and prayers for these guys.

Agreed. We flew North out of Fairbanks three days in a row before the wedge opened enough for us to sneak through on a sheep hunt in the Brooks range.

 

[Scott CWO]

Couldn't gain altitude and crashed just after takeoff. Maybe engine trouble, down draft or a bit too heavy. Time will tell.

 

[Fixfire]

So sad. Didn’t know Jim, only what I saw from the tv show. Nice man and family. Prayers

 

[Sourdough]

As an Alaska Bush Pilot myself I'm always saddened when we loose one of our own. Bush flying Alaska is the most rewarding and challenging flying there is. Do it long enough and you will bend an airplane or sometimes even destroy one. To be killed is usually weather related where you fly into a mountain (referred to as CFIT, Controlled Flight Into Terrain) or a Stall/Spin (referred to as Moose Stalls in Alaska because they occur usually while circling over a good looking moose trying to determine if it is a great looking moose) causing the plane to lawn dart into the ground. Engine failures, bad fuel (which is VERY common in Alaska), etc will allow the pilot to fly the plane (which might be a glider at that point) to the crash sight sometimes allowing the occupants to walk away unharmed or sustain non-life threatening injuries, extremely rare being fatal.

We won't have a better idea of what happened until the NTSB releases a statement. Keep flying Jim where you are now. Condolences to family and friends.

 

[Newboomer]

As an Alaska Bush Pilot myself I'm always saddened when we loose one of our own. Bush flying Alaska is the most rewarding and challenging flying there is. Do it long enough and you will bend an airplane or sometimes even destroy one. To be killed is usually weather related where you fly into a mountain (referred to as CFIT, Controlled Flight Into Terrain) or a Stall/Spin (referred to as Moose Stalls in Alaska because they occur usually while circling over a good looking moose trying to determine if it is a great looking moose) causing the plane to lawn dart into the ground. Engine failures, bad fuel (which is VERY common in Alaska), etc will allow the pilot to fly the plane (which might be a glider at that point) to the crash sight sometimes allowing the occupants to walk away unharmed or sustain non-life threatening injuries, extremely rare being fatal.

We won't have a better idea of what happened until the NTSB releases a statement. Keep flying Jim where you are now. Condolences to family and friends.

Hoping they survived and soon rescued.

 

[meigsbucks]

A sad occurrence. Prayers for the families.

 

[freefall]

Said dead at Must Read Alaska.

Hoping they survived and soon rescued.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

They never did find Congressman Hale Boggs' plane that went down between Juneu and Anchorage. They found the plane's locator ... in another plane. Something fishy about that crash. When I took my float plane crash course up there, the instructor said on average a thousand people disappear in Alaska every year. Maybe BS ... maybe not.

 

[WAB]

They never did find Congressman Hale Boggs' plane that went down between Juneu and Anchorage. They found the plane's locator ... in another plane. Something fishy about that crash. When I took my float plane crash course up there, the instructor said on average a thousand people disappear in Alaska every year. Maybe BS ... maybe not.

Probably BS. A few planes go down every year but most are found. The majority of planes get bent on takeoff and landing so the chances are pretty high that they will be found. The guys that disappear are often pushing the weather envelope. We lost one of my guys sons while he was flying CAP looking for a plane that was never recovered.