Alaska updates in category: Mass Transit (Airline, Cruise Ship, Train, Bus)

Fast changing weather, bush landing sites, animals on the runways, and pilot inexperience help make Alaska a very dangerous place to be an aircraft passenger. Pilots die at a rate 100 times the...

Tuesday, a Grant Aviation medivac flight landed in Bethel, but the nose gear failed before the plane could be safely parked at the airport. Snow conditions on the taxiway may have contributed to the fialure and the NTSB is investigating. A couple of the people on board complained of pain after the incident.

SeaWind Aviation pilot Steve Kamm was recently cleared by the FAA of violating regulations in the August crash that left some passengers dead and seriously injured. But the FAA's very findings, including that the weather was adequate for flight and that the plane was properly equipped, suggest negligent operation as one possible cause of the crash. Those on board, and their families, have...

Nine passengers and an experienced pilot, Robin Starrett, were on board Servant Air's PA-31 Navajo Chieftain when it crashed into icy waters 50 yards from the Kodiak runway. The pilot encountered unknown problems just after the charter flight departed Kodiak for Homer. Another air taxi operator, Dean Andrew, was on the scene immediately and helped rescue 4 of the survivors, one of whom...

An Arctic Circle Air Cessna 208 Caravan crashed after takeoff from Bethel Tuesday morning. The most seriously injured passenger was and Arctic Circle Air employee. The NTSB is investigating. AS 23/30.055 will bar any claim for negligence against the pilot or Arctic Circle that the passenger/employee might otherwise make. But any other non-employee passenger can make such a claim. They will...

Monday, December 3, 2007, a helicopter carrying John Stumpf, flight nurse, Cameron Carter, paramedic, Gaye McDowell, patient, and flown by Lance Brabham went missing less than half way through a 90 minute flight between Cordova and Anchorage. Saturday, Stumpf's body was found with some wreckage along the flight path that would have taken the flight through Portage Pass on its way to Anchorage. ...

Last Friday the student pilot of a Cessna 150, David Terrill, and his instructor/passenger Dennis Covel, were hospitalized after crash landing on the Palmer Golf Course. They struck a tree on approach to the Palmer airport and had to put the plane down. Cases such as this are complicated and require retention of a skillful attorney.Normally the pilot, responsible for the safe operation of the...

19:45 hours Thursday, about 40 miles NNW of Bethel a Cessna 172 with three on board crashed. One person sustained serious injuries. No other details have been released. Investigation continues.For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Airline, Cruise, Bus, and Other Mass Transit.

Friday, September 21, 2007, 80 miles East of McGrath, a pilot departing Mystic Lake Lodge in a Skyvan SC-7 clipped trees on takeoff and crashed. He was seriously injured. He was the only person on board. But even though his errors may have caused the crash, he will be able to maintain a claim against his employer if the employer failed to maintain worker's compensation coverage or fails in an...

A 15 year old boy left in camp attracted the attention of a pilot who landed 8/16/07 to hear that the boy's father and another hunter failed to return from an 8/14/07 flight to scout for sheep north of Arctic Village in Gates of the Arctic refuge. A helicopter dispatched by the Rescue Coordination Center found an aircraft and two dead occupants soon after the incident was reported. It has not...

Five passengers from Oregon and California died in a crash of a Beaver operated by SeaWind Aviation 25 miles North of Ketchikan recently. The Pilot and three passengers survived but some were burned and their condition and prognosis is unknown. Weather conditions changed fast, and may have contributed to the crash. An investigation into the cause continues.For more information on this...

A pilot crashed his plane into Rocky Lake Friday, just East of Big Lake, but escaped with only cuts and bruises, according to Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services personnel. The pilot was alone in the plane. Unfortunately, Alaska has a statute that immunizes private pilots from their negligence. But such pilots can still be sued if they fail to warn passengers of their uninsured status, are...

Bad weather was a likely part of the equation that crashed a Taquan Air Beaver with a pilot and four passengers on board July 24, north of Ketchikan. All died of their injuries sustained in the crash into a box canyon. Two other planes turned around after seeing the weather on the other side of "the cut"...a small pass in the area. In the last five years 33 people have died in 14 commercial...

Early afternoon Monday, a Piper 46 with engine trouble crashed into a Sitka home. A fire erupted from the crash as people rushed to the scene. The cause of the crash is not known nor is the fate of possible occupants of the house and plane. Sitka police and fire units are investigating. Fatalities are likely.For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Airlines,...

FAA officials revoked the pilot's license, mechanic's license and operations certificate of Mavrik Aire, owned and operated by Craig Schweitzer. Schweitzer intends to continue part 91 fishing and flightseeing operations despite the FAA action. People visiting Alaska need to check into the history and reputation of the air services they use. Mavrik Aire had a fatal crash in 1998 and the FAA...