Latest news with #DaleEicher
Al Arabiya
26-03-2025
- General
- Al Arabiya
Pilot, two children survive Alaska plane crash into icy lake
A pilot and two children were rescued from a small plane that plunged into an icy lake in Alaska following an overnight search, officials said. The Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser propeller plane was reported missing in the area of Tustumena Lake and the Kenai Mountains on Sunday around 10:30 pm (0630 GMT Monday) after it failed to return as scheduled. But a volunteer pilot spotted the plane on the frozen lake, leading to the passengers' rescue around 12 hours after the aircraft was declared missing. 'Earlier this morning, a good samaritan aircraft located the plane wreckage near the eastern side of Tustemena Lake,' the Alaska State Troopers said in a statement Monday. A photo of the partially submerged aircraft published by local media appeared to show three people sitting on the wings. Rescuers raced to locate the trio in sub-zero temperatures overnight, according to local weather records. The man and children were taken to hospital with 'non-life-threatening injuries,' the statement added. Dale Eicher, one of several local pilots who joined the search operation, said the passengers were lucky to survive the ordeal. 'I didn't expect that we would find them and I didn't expect that we would find them alive, for sure,' he told local TV station KTUU. 'I've done a little bit of search and rescue before and it doesn't always turn out this well.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Three Rescued After Surviving 12 Hours on Icy Alaska Lake Following Plane Crash
A pilot and two children were rescued on Monday, March 24, after surviving about 12 hours on the icy Tustumena Lake in Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, following a small plane crash, according to reports. The search and rescue operation for the trio occurred after the pilot's father, who is also the girls' grandfather, flagged their disappearance in a now deleted Facebook post. 'My son is long overdue from a Sunday afternoon flight,' John B. Morris wrote in the post. 'His cell phone last pinged in the Tustumena Lake area. My two granddaughters are on board also … This is my plea for any and all to help locate my family.' According to Anchorage Daily News, the three victims were rescued by the Alaska National Guard after a local named Terry Godes located the aircraft on the surface of the lake. Dale Eicher, who supplied Storyful with the pictures showing the plane partially submerged in ice and the three survivors propped on its wing, provided the aircraft's coordinates to authorities, Anchorage Daily News reported. All three occupants were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Anchorage Daily News, citing Alaska State Troopers. Credit: Dale Eicher via Storyful
New York Times
25-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
Man and 2 Children Are Found Alive After Plane Crash Into an Alaska Lake
A man and two children who had been missing overnight were rescued on Monday from the wreckage of a plane that crashed into a frozen lake in south-central Alaska, the authorities said. The single-engine plane, a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser, was reported missing just after 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, setting off search and rescue efforts around Tustumena Lake and the Kenai Mountains, some 80 to 100 miles south of Anchorage, the Alaska State Troopers said on their website. The authorities searched all night, but could not find the plane. The next morning, a volunteer pilot found the wreckage on the eastern side of the lake, the Alaska State Troopers said. The Alaska Army National Guard rescued the man and two children, all of whom had non-life-threatening injuries, at 10:30 a.m. Monday and took them to a hospital, the state troopers said. Dale Eicher, a pilot who had been searching for the plane, told the local news station KTUU that he was approaching the lake when he heard over the radio that the man and two children had been found alive. Mr. Eicher, assuming that the pilot who had located the group had no cell service, said that he immediately called the Alaska State Troopers to notify them. 'I was really shocked,' Mr. Eicher, told KTUU. 'I didn't expect that we would find them alive, for sure.' Neither the pilot nor his family could be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday. Scott Holmes, described by KTUU as a family friend of the pilot, had posted a message to Facebook on Monday, saying he was doing so on behalf of the pilot's father. 'My son is long overdue from a Sunday afternoon flight,' the message said. 'My two granddaughters are on board also. There are friends ready to search at daylight. But this is my plea for any and all help to locate my family.' Mr. Holmes later updated the post, noting that the plane had gone through the ice, but that the group had been 'FOUND AND WALKING AROUND.'
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
3 survivors rescued from icy lake after plane goes missing in Alaska
Good Samaritans helped save stranded plane crash victims on Monday after their aircraft went missing over a mountain range in Alaska. A Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser was reported overdue on Sunday night, according to the Alaska National Guard. The plane had taken off from Soldotna Airport in Soldotna, Alaska, earlier in the day on Sunday. MORE: Right main landing gear collapsed on impact in fiery Toronto plane crash: Preliminary report The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, a U.S. Coast Guard Super Hercules, Alaska State Troopers and Alaska National Guard launched a search effort but could not find it. There was no emergency transmitter signal coming from the wreckage. However, the Alaska National Guard told ABC News that a cellphone ping led searchers to believe the plane was near Tustumena Lake and the Kenai Mountains. MORE: Recent plane crashes induce anxiety for many travelers It was a civilian in an aircraft who wound up spotting the plane crash site on Monday. Alaska officials said it was a testament to the strength of the community in Alaska that when an aircraft goes down, everybody takes to their planes and they go out and look. One of the good Samaritans seeking the missing plane was Dale Eicher, who told ABC News that he was able to fly over the site of the crash approximately half an hour after it was first located and saw the survivors awaiting rescue. MORE: Family of 3 missing after leaving Grand Canyon and driving through winter storm An Alaska Army National Guard Blackhawk medivac variant with extended range, a hoist and a flight medic -- part of the 207th Aviation Troop Command -- went out to where the wreckage was spotted and found three people on the wing of the PA-12, which had seemingly broken the surface of a frozen body of water and had become partially submerged. The National Guard told ABC News that the plane had missed the main lake; instead, the aircraft seems to have settled amid a glacial field and large body of water. All three passengers on the plane survived the crash, were successfully rescued and were taken to a local hospital. There are no further updates on any injuries or what led to the crash. ABC News' Lena Camilletti contributed to this report. 3 survivors rescued from icy lake after plane goes missing in Alaska originally appeared on
