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| Pilot Craig Layson of Saline, Michigan and four Polish passengers died in the crash |
On August 4, 2018, about 1753 Alaska daylight time, a single-engine, de Havilland DHC-2
(Beaver) airplane, N323KT, sustained substantial damage during an impact with steep, high
altitude, snow-covered terrain about 50 miles northwest of Talkeetna, Alaska, in Denali
National Park and Preserve. The airplane was registered to Rust Properties, LLC and operated
by Rust's Flying Service Inc, doing business as K2 Aviation as a visual flight rules on-demand
commercial air tour flight, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part
135 when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot and four passengers sustained fatal
injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight following procedures
were in effect. The flight originated at the Talkeetna Airport (TKA) about 1705.
According to K2 Aviation, the purpose of the flight was to provide the four passengers a onehour
tour flight. This tour was to consist of an aerial tour of multiple glaciers, which included a
flyover of the Denali Base Camp located on the Kahiltna Glacier, at 7,200 feet mean sea level
(msl), and then return to Talkeetna.
According to archived global positioning system (GPS) track data from K2 Aviation's in-flight
tracking system, at 1746, as the flight passed over the Denali Base Camp, the airplane initially
turns south, and travels down the Kahiltna Glacier. As the flight progressed southbound, it
then turns to the left, and towards Talkeetna on a southeasterly heading. As the airplane
continues on the southeasterly heading, the track terminates near a knife-edge ridge above the
Kahiltna Glacier on Thunder Mountain.
At 1753, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) received the first alert from the accident
airplane's 406MHz emergency locator transmitter (ELT). At 1756, K2 Aviation was alerted that
the accident airplane's satellite tracking had stopped moving, and lost aircraft procedures were
immediately initiated.
About 1800, a satellite phone call from the accident pilot was received by personnel at K2
Aviation. The pilot stated that they had impacted a mountain and needed rescue. The call only
lasted a couple minutes before the connection was lost. After several attempts, contact was
once again made with the accident pilot, and he stated that he was trapped in the wreckage and
there were possibly two fatalities. No further information was received before the connection
was once again lost.
At 2008, the National Park Service (NPS) high altitude rescue helicopter based in Talkeetna,
was dispatched to the coordinates transmitted from the accident airplane's 406MHz ELT.
However, due to continuous poor weather conditions in the area, the helicopter crew was not
able to reach the accident site. Search and rescue assets from the National Park Service (NPS),
the RCC, the Alaska Air National Guard, the Alaska Army National Guard and the U.S. Army
joined in the search and rescue mission.
On August 6, about 0717, the crew of the NPS's high altitude rescue helicopter located the
airplane wreckage in an ice crevasse, at an altitude of about 10,920 ft msl, on a hanging glacier
on Thunder Mountain, which is located about 14 miles southwest of the Denali Summit. The
airplane was highly fragmented, and the right wing had separated and fallen several hundred
feet below the main wreckage. Subsequently, an NPS mountain rescue ranger was able to
access the accident site utilizing a technique known as a short-haul, which allows transport of
rescue personnel to otherwise inaccessible sites while suspended beneath a helicopter using a
long-line. Once on scene, and while still connected to the helicopter, the ranger was able to
locate the deceased pilot and three of the passengers in the forward portion of the fuselage, but
the fifth occupant was missing. The fuselage was fractured aft of the trailing edge of the wings,
and the fuselage was splayed open with blown, packed snow inside.
Rapidly deteriorating weather conditions limited the initial on-scene time to about five
minutes.
On August 10, NPS launched another short-haul site assessment mission. During this mission,
the fifth occupant was located in the aft section of the fuselage and was confirmed deceased.
According to NPS management personnel, given the unique challenges posed by the steepness
of terrain, ice crevasses, avalanche danger, and the instability of the aircraft wreckage, it was
determined that recovery of the occupants remains, and retrieval of the aircraft wreckage,
exceed an acceptable level of risk and therefore a recovery will not be attempted.
The airplane is equipped with a Pratt and Whitney R-985 series engine.
The closest official weather observation station to the accident site was located at the Talkeetna
Airport, about 50 miles to the southeast. On August 4, 2018, at 1753, the station was reporting,
in part: wind 170° at 6 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; ceiling and clouds, 8,000 ft. scattered,
10,000 ft. broken; temperature 72° F; dew point 54° F; altimeter 29.87 inches of mercury.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information
Aircraft Make: De Havilland Registration: N323KT
Model/Series: DHC-2 Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: K2 Aviation Operating Certificate(s)
Held:
On-demand Air Taxi (135)
Meteorological Information and Flight Plan
Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: TKA, 365 ft msl Observation Time: 1753 ADT
Distance from Accident Site: 50 Nautical Miles Temperature/Dew Point: 22°C / 12°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Scattered / 8000 ft agl Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 6 knots / , 170°
Lowest Ceiling: Broken / 10000 ft agl Visibility: 10 Miles
Altimeter Setting: 29.87 inches Hg Type of Flight Plan Filed: Company VFR
Departure Point: Talkeetna, AK (TKA) Destination: Talkeetna, AK (TKA)
Wreckage and Impact Information
Crew Injuries: 1 Fatal Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: 4 Fatal Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 5 Fatal Latitude, Longitude:
Administrative Information
Investigator In Charge (IIC): David S Williams
Additional Participating Persons: Greg Varner; FAA; Wasilla, AK
Chris Wilson; K2 Aviation; Talkeetna, AK
Matt Rigsby; FAA; Washington D.C., DE
Note: The NTSB traveled to the scene of this accident.
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The pilot in the fatal flightseeing plane crash near Denali Saturday night has been identified.
According to National Park Service spokeswoman Katherine Belcher, Craig Layson of Saline, Michigan was the pilot of the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver plane that when down on Aug. 4 near the summit of what's known as Thunder Mountain at an elevation of nearly 11,000 feet.
Monday morning, National Park Service officials said four of the five people who were on board the flightseeing plane out of Talkeetna were found dead and the fifth person was still missing and presumed dead.
"Search operations have been halted because we did make it to the site of the downed aircraft," said Belcher. "We did confirm that four passengers onboard are deceased, a fifth passenger is assumed dead."
No word on whether Layson was among the bodies found.
"We haven't confirmed what the fatalities are," Belcher said. "We don't know if one of them's the pilot, if all four are passengers. We don't have that information yet. It was a quick in and out because the weather was moving in. So for the safety of our staff, they went down, did what they needed to do."
NPS mountaineering rangers took advantage of a brief window of clearing weather and reached the wreckage for the first time since the plane went down on Saturday night.
"An NPS ranger was short-hauled to the crash site (suspended beneath the helicopter) where he dug through the snow that had filled the aircraft and found the bodies of four of the five passengers," NPS wrote in a statement Monday morning. "There were no footprints or disturbances leading away from the site and there were no other signs to indicate any of the passengers made it out of the plane."
Chris Erikson, NPS mountaineering ranger who searched the scene said he believes the window of time they were able to search the wreckage was less than five minutes.
"As best I could, I worked my way through the aircraft just counting people, and checking people to see if there were any signs of life," he said. "I was able to find four, but not the fifth, given the area that I was working, there's still a pretty good chance that person's still in there. I couldn't get to everywhere. I did not comprehensively search the aircraft."
Erickson said there was some snow drifted around the wreckage and did not go inside of the aircraft due to safety concerns.
"I was just able to see the inside of part of the plane, not all of it, I was able to see some of the occupants, but had to dig around to find any of the equipment that might have been on board otherwise, it looked mostly like an airplane crash, there was items scattered throughout."
A member of the Polish Consulate in Anchorage says the four passengers onboard that flightseeing plane were all Polish tourists who traveled to Alaska in a group of nine people. Five people in the group were in Talkeetna waiting for the other four to return. Stanislaw Borucki, Honorary Consul of Poland, says it's tough notifying families back in Poland of the tragic deaths.
"One of the elderly mothers she was calling, she did not speak English. And try to tell that your son is dead. And then she has to call the girlfriend. One of the young men that was in the flight, he was getting married. To tell the young lady that your boyfriend, your future husband, is dead, it's very difficult," said Borucki.
We're told the other five polish residents who were visiting ended up cutting their trip short. They had planned to travel to Seward, Whittier, Homer and other places.
Belcher said the last time a crash like this has happened in Denali was back in 2003.
"Flightseeing operators have a very good record in Denali," she said. "The last time that we had a plane crash in the park, was in May 2003."
Crews are still waiting for the weather to cooperate so that they can make it back out to investigate the crash site.
"We're waiting for the weather to clear and during that time we're going to best decide how to proceed with recovery operations," Belcher said.
A temporary flight restriction has been put in place in the area of Denali National Park & Preserve to minimize traffic in the area of the crash site.
All four of the passengers aboard the K2 aviation de Havilland Beaver (DHC-2) are from Poland, according to the NPS. Their names are being withheld pending notification of family members.
Weather in the area is expected to be cloudy, but relatively dry with light winds. Crews can expect rain showers beginning this afternoon, with the chance for some snow/rain mix. Showers will likely continue on and off into Tuesday.
(Credit: Denali National Park and Preserve) "The pilot was able to make a satellite phone call to K2 Aviation,” National Park Service spokeswoman Katherine Belcher said Sunday. “He did report some injuries, he made another phone call about an hour later at 7 p.m., and the is the last known communication anyone has had with the pilot."
The Park Service is conducting the search along with the Alaska Air National Guard, the U.S. Army and Alaska State Troopers.
Monday's temporary flight restrictions include the following areas:
North to Mount Hunter
East to the Big Y of the Tokositna Glacier
South to Avalanche Spire
West to the center of the Kahiltna Glacier
Surface to 18,000'
Search organizers say the plane had likely been on its way back to the airport when the crash took place. Because of the altitude, any rescue will have to come by air.
“It's a very tricky terrain up there,” Belcher said. “It's basically a sheer vertical cliff: lots of ice, lots of snow, lots of rock."
Each de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, like the one that crash, is equipped with survival gear including food, sleeping bags, a pot and a stove. But, what the pilot and his four passengers really need right now is, better weather.
"Unfortunately it's zero visibility and very low cloud cover, so, our search crews have been visually unable to locate the crash site,” Belcher said. “We know approximately where it is, but, we just haven't been able to put eyes on it."
Temperatures overnight Sunday near the crash site were expected to range from roughly 20 degrees to freezing, with a nearly 90 percent chance of snow.
The flight was arranged through a Polish tour company, according to Belcher.
K2 Aviation released a statement Monday morning saying they send their thoughts and prayers to the families of their guests and the pilot involved in the incident.
"We will be suspending flightseeing tours until further notice as we give our staff time to grieve this loss," K2 wrote.
Chris Clint, Dave Leval, Zach Rover, Mary Simton, Liz Raines and Jason Sear contributed to this report.