Small plane crashes in Southwest Alaska
Author: Laurel Andrews
A commercially operated Cessna 206 crashed 12 miles northeast of Port Alsworth on Thursday, according to officials.
The plane was a Regal Air aircraft, and the pilot was the sole occupant, according to Megan Richotte, public information officer with Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.
Alaska State Troopers were en route, Richotte said. A recovery mission would take place Thursday evening by both troopers and park rangers.
Brice Banning, senior aircraft accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said that NTSB investigators were also heading to the scene.
The plane had departed from Lake Hood Seaplane Base in West Anchorage, Banning said.
It was reported missing around 9:30 a.m., when the Rescue Coordination Center said a emergency locator transmitter had activated in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, according to Richotte.
A search party of Lake Clark National Park rangers responded, Richotte said. They found the plane around 1:45 p.m., according to Banning. It was found downed and burning in the Miller Creek drainage of the park.
Richotte described the area of the crash as "a forested valley bottom in mountainous terrain."
Port Alsworth is around 165 miles southwest of Anchorage.
=====================
A 22-year-old man died Thursday when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed in Southwest Alaska, according to authorities.
The pilot, identified as Joel Black of Ohio, was the only person onboard the Cessna 206, according to a statement from Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane was operated by Regal Air and carrying freight.
It departed from the Lake Hood Seaplane Base in Anchorage and was headed for "a remote landing site in the Bristol Bay area," said Brice Banning, NTSB senior aircraft accident investigator.
Banning said Friday he did not have a more specific destination and did not yet have information on what time the plane left Anchorage.
A woman who answered the phone at Regal Air on Friday morning declined to comment.
Megan Richotte, public information officer with Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, said the plane was reported missing around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, when the Rescue Coordination Center said an emergency locator transmitter had activated inside of the vast national park.
Around 1:45 p.m., park rangers found the plane, downed and burning in the Miller Creek drainage about 12 miles northeast of Port Alsworth.
Richotte described the area of the crash as "a forested valley bottom in mountainous terrain."
Alaska State Troopers and park rangers recovered the pilot's body Thursday night, Richotte said. The body was flown to the medical examiner's office in Anchorage, she said.
Banning said he expected an NTSB investigator to travel to the scene of the crash Friday. He said what caused the crash remained under investigation.
Date: 27-JUL-2017
Time: 09:30 a.m.
Type:
Cessna U206G Stationair
Owner/operator: Regal Air
Registration: N1749R
C/n / msn: U20604963
Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities: 0
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Miller Creek drainage, 12 miles northeast of Port Alsworth, Alaska -
United States of America Phase: En route
Nature: Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport: Lake Hood Seaplane Base (PALH)
Destination airport: Bristol Bay, AK
Narrative:
The plane was found burnt. The pilot died in the crash.
Sources:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2017/07/27/small-plane-crash-reported-near-port-alsworth/
http://www.ktva.com/small-plane-crashes-near-lake-clark-pass-no-word-casualties-728/
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/aviation/2017/07/28/pilot-killed-in-southwest-alaska-plane-crash/
__________________
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N1749R
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/8639422
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000642678.html