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

[Tundra Tiger]

My youngest daughter was in a crash, in the spring of 2022. It was weather related, and they crashed on the frozen surface of Lake Iliamna. The plane looked like a crushed and discarded aluminum can. Miraculously, all 5 survived. She had some lacerations and had to have a couple vertebrae fused but is otherwise fine today. She said the worst was being strapped in for hours waiting for help to arrive. First responders arrived via snowmachine from Newhalen. Ironically the first guy on the scene was a close lifelong friend of mine.

As others have said Alaska can be very unforgiving. Every time I get in a small plane it occurs to me that my odds go up a little more.

Prayers for his family. My guess is they have skirted this dance in the past.

 

[Sourdough]

@Tundra Tiger sure happy your daughter and the others all survived.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

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.

I should clarify. He was saying a thousand disappear for all reasons. Hunters, hikers, philandering spouses, etc.

 

[TOBY458]

Sad news indeed. Hopefully the story will take a turn for the good.
The last time I was in AK, we had to fly through a huge cloud of fog coming back into Valdez. We had zero visibility in all directions. The pilot ended up having to circle the airport several times before we finally had enough visibility to land. I had came down with beaver fever, and had to cut my hunt short, so he had to make every effort to get me back to the airport.
When flying in for the hunt, we flew between some mountains, and I swear it looked like the wing tips were 5 feet from touching the sides. After that, the brown bear hunting seems very safe in comparison!

 

[Eddie_GE]

Sad news. Prayers for them and their families.

I am happy to fly a twin engine helicopter.

And I didn‘t renewed my single engine airplane this year because I realized:

When I started on Cessnas in 1988 they were build 1970 to 1982 or so. Today these airplanes are still in use and when I fly I don’t care. But they are about 50 years old. And that means the same as I would have used an aircraft of 1938 when I started in 1988…Maintenance is key to flying but they are complex - especially the engines. just my 2 cents

safe landings

 

[Ridge Runner]

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.

I "might be" curious, but I know not to ask!!!.

I would almost bet a years wages, IF an honest answer could be shared; that more people "disappear" in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, or Mississippi, than simply disappear in Alaska per year for various or "no (known) reason(s)".

That's a lot of people to simply disappear. I

In a land/area where people want to go "off grid", I wonder how many people are just going off grid and how many have just "simply" disappeared, died in the wilds of Alaska, or were "disappeared" for "other" illicit criminal reasons?

 

[smokepole]

Been there done that in early 70s. !947 PA12. Quit after 2 years-old piolets bold piolets, no old bold pilots. Moose looking is worst, but lot of danger Glad I am old, but it is best way to hunt Ak. Prayer for his family.

 

[Slider]

They have already said the Bodies were recovered......https://twitter.com/KREM2/status/1670152576887664641

 

[sestoppelman]

Sorry to hear of this, RIP to those lost.
I've not been to Alaska for some years, but I lived in Sitka in the 60's and spent a lot of time up there on the water, on tugboats.
Alaska can be harsh and unforgiving country in the air, on the land and on the water.

 

[fourfive8]

Yes, always sad to hear of these - dang! RIP to them. Unforgiving flying environment maybe an understatement.

In the mid-70s seems like there was a rush of pilgrims moving to AK, many getting light aircraft, a license and heading out to scout for sheep. A friend was flying for the pipeline at the time and moonlighting as a flight instructor. A plague of sheep scouting crashes followed that employment migration. Newb hunter/pilots looking in ever tightening canyons without the power to get out. Then realizing it too late, making too tight a turn, stalling... crash. And of course moose scouting gets some also. That is even in relatively flat or rolling ground! Head out, then weather seemingly instantly socks in around you while in the air! Even the smallest hill can reach up and bite. Have been in on that a couple of times- NOTHING spookier than VFR, as all the bush flying is, then getting socked in while in the air! Even in ideal, clear conditions and cruising along at 500-1000 ft above the tundra demands constant mental updates about possible landing sites based on the plane's glide ratio vs stall speed should the engine go poof.

 

[Gemsbok45]

Nothing like flying into remote Alaska or the Yukon.Can’t get there if you don’t.When experienced pilots go down you know it’s a numbers game!

 

[Ridge Runner]

Sincerest Condolences to their families and friends. May they Rest In Peace.