Latest news with #AlaskaAirNationalGuard
NBC News
4 days ago
- NBC News
Plane was overloaded with moose meat in crash that killed Alaska lawmaker's husband, NTSB says
A plane that crashed and killed the husband of then-U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, two years ago was overloaded with moose meat and antlers, federal investigators said this week. Eugene 'Buzzy' Peltola Jr., 57, was piloting a Piper PA 18-150 Super Cub when it went down in the mountains northeast of St. Mary's on Sept. 12, 2023. The veteran pilot was working with a group of hunters who had camped out in the remote wilderness and he was ferrying away parts of a moose they had killed, officials said. The pilot did not use scales to weigh the cargo and the airplane was 117 pounds over its maximum takeoff weight, according to the NTSB's final report. Moose antlers were secured to the plane's right wing, a normal practice in Alaska. But that requires FAA sign off and there was "no evidence that such approval had been granted for the accident airplane," according to the report. The plane was carrying about 500 pounds of moose — 110 pounds of leg, 150 pounds of hind quarters, 50 pounds of ribs, 110 pounds of various other cuts and 70 pounds of antlers, NTSB records showed. "The downdrafts, along with the overweight airplane and the added drag and lateral weight imbalance caused by the antlers on the right wing, would likely have resulted in the airplane having insufficient power and/or control authority to maneuver above terrain," the report said. Shortly after takeoff, hunter Travis Hopkins was on the ground and 'recalled hearing a sputter sound and then silence,' according to previously disclosed NTSB findings. Hopkins ran to the top of a nearby hill and spotted wreckage before racing to the scene, finding "the pilot still conscious in the front seat but he had sustained facial injuries," the NTSB said. Hopkins used satellite communications to call for help at 8:48 p.m., officials said. An Alaska Air National Guard helicopter arrived at some point between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. in hopes of taking the pilot to the closest hospital about 400 miles away in Anchorage, officials said. The pilot was talking and didn't appear to be in obvious pain but "he became less responsive over the next two hours until he became non-responsive and they could no longer find a pulse," the NTSB said. The victim's "cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries, and his manner of death was accident," the NTSB said. The pilot's wife, Mary Peltola, became a national figure in August 2022 when she became the first native Alaskan to win a Congressional seat. The Democrat topped GOP rivals that included former Gov. Sarah Palin, to take the seat that had been previous held by Rep. Don Young, who died in March that year at the age of 88.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Rangers in Alaska recover the body of a man who died from a fall on North America's tallest peak
In this May 9, 2013 file photo released by the Alaska Air National Guard, Chief Master Sgt. Paul Barendregt climbs up the prow of the West Buttress on Mount McKinley conducting winter rescue and glacier training in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. (AP Photo/Alaska Air National Guard) ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Mountaineering rangers in Alaska recovered the body of a Seattle man who died after falling 3,000 feet (about 900 meters) from a climbing route on Mount McKinley. Alex Chui's body was transferred to the state medical examiner Wednesday, the Denali National Park and Preserve said in a statement. Two other members of the 41-year-old's expedition on the West Buttress route to Peters Glacier reported Monday that Chui fell at a spot called Squirrel Point. They lowered over the edge as far as possible but were unable to see or hear Chui. He was not roped. Ground and air search crews were unable to reach the site until early Wednesday. An unroped French mountaineer fell to his death near the same location in 2010. His body was never recovered. The busiest time for climbing Mount McKinley is May and June. There are currently 500 climbers on the peak, North America's tallest. The Associated Press
Miami Herald
28-05-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
700-pound boulder pins man in creek as spouse fights to save him, AK officials say
A multi-agency rescue unfolded after a 61-year-old man became pinned face down by a roughly 700-pound boulder in an Alaska creek, officials said. The man's spouse held his head above water and firefighters mobilized to help him, the Seward Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post. The man was trapped May 24 in a boulder field in the headwaters of Fourth of July Creek in the Kenai Peninsula, officials said. Rescuers set up a command post at a quarry about 2 miles downstream and made their way with the help of ATVs through the 'extreme terrain,' officials said. Seward Helicopter Tours jumped to help and flew firefighters to the trapped man, 'cutting down 45 minutes of travel time,' according to officials. The helicopter couldn't land in the boulder field, so firefighters had to jump out while it hovered, officials said. The 61-year-old man 'was hypothermic and in and out of consciousness' when rescuers reached him, according to officials. They used 'air bags, ropes, and brute force to lift the boulder off' of him 'and pull him to safety,' officials said. Rescuers warmed him up, 'and he became more alert, and his vitals improved,' according to officials. The Alaska Air National Guard's 176th Wing hoisted him from the canyon, officials said. He was taken to a hospital and 'is expected to make a full recovery,' according to officials, who said he didn't appear to have life-threatening injuries. Facebook commenters had praise for the rescuers. 'Definitely amazing! Thankful for all of the well-trained responders!' one person wrote. The Kenai Peninsula is in south central Alaska.
Voice of America
07-02-2025
- Climate
- Voice of America
Authorities continue search for plane missing in Alaska
Rescuers in Alaska continued their search Friday for an airplane that went missing Thursday with nine passengers and a pilot onboard. Several groups were involved in the search, including the Alaska State Troopers, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska Air National Guard, the Alaska Army National Guard and local search teams. Authorities said a Jayhawk helicopter was brought in Friday morning to help with the search. The FBI was also providing technical assistance, including cellphone analysis, to help locate the aircraft. The Bering Air Caravan flight was traveling in western Alaska, just south of the Arctic Circle, from Unalakleet to Nome. State troopers said they were notified Thursday at 4 p.m. about the plane's disappearance. The Coast Guard said on X that the flight was 19 kilometers offshore when its position was lost. The families of the passengers have been notified, according to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, but passengers' names have not been released. The fire department posted on X that it was conducting an active ground search, but weather and visibility conditions were hampering the department's air search. The department urged people not to form their own search parties because of hazardous weather conditions in the region, which is prone to sudden snow squalls and high winds. Airplanes are often the only method of transportation between rural Alaskan villages. Nome is well-known as the last stop in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The missing flight is the third major U.S. aviation incident in recent days. On January 29, a commercial airliner and an Army helicopter collided near Washington's Reagan National Airport. Two days later, a medical transportation plane crashed into a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, neighborhood shortly after takeoff, killing six people onboard and another person on the street. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
