Polish Tourists Lost on Alaska Mountain Crash

[kaima]

Alaska Aviation

Four found dead in wreck of Denali flightseeing plane, and a fifth is presumed dead

Author: Zaz Hollander, Devin Kelly



The wreckage of the K2 Aviation plane is near the summit of Thunder Mountain on the north side of the ridge, a feature located roughly 14 miles southwest of the summit of Denali. (NPS photo)

TALKEETNA — Five people are believed to have died in Saturday's crash of a flightseeing plane near Denali, the deadliest crash of an air taxi in the Alaska Range in decades.

A National Park Service ranger found four bodies in the wreckage during a search made brief by weather Monday at the precarious site.

A fifth person aboard the K2 Aviation de Havilland Beaver was not found but is presumed dead, authorities say.

The wreckage was located almost 11,000 feet (3300 meters) up a remote mountain near North America's tallest peak, and came to rest perched on a steep glacier.

Word that no one survived Saturday's crash dashed hopes that the occupants might be alive. The plane's pilot survived the crash, and made contact twice before communications ended.

[In tight-knit Talkeetna, news of fatal flightseeing crash sends shock, heartbreak]

K2 announced Monday it is suspending flightseeing tours until further notice "as we give our staff time to grieve this loss."

The park service on Monday afternoon identified the pilot as Craig Layson of Saline, Michigan. The Saline Post newspaper said Monday that Layson and his wife had spent the past two summers in Alaska.



The passengers are from Poland but their names have not been released. The park service is in contact with the Polish Consulate in Los Angeles.

The trip was booked through a tour company in Poland, according to park service spokeswoman Katherine Belcher.

Layson was able to make two calls by satellite phone in the hour after the crash and reported injuries before communication with the plane ended.

It wasn't immediately clear how many people survived the initial crash. The plane was equipped with an emergency survival kit, including sleeping bags, a stove and pot to boil water, food and a first-aid kit.

Rescuers took advantage of a brief window of clearing weather Monday morning to spot the wreckage for the first time since the plane went down at about 6 p.m. Saturday. Then a ranger was lowered to the scene.

The ranger who got to the plane Monday said it appeared highly unlikely people had moved around after the crash.

The plane crashed in steep terrain in a crevasse on the side of a mountain, according to Chris Erickson, the climbing ranger who confirmed that none of people in the plane survived. It was windy and the temperature was about freezing, maybe just below.



National Park Service mountaineering ranger Chris Erickson speaks to reporters Monday, Aug. 6, 2018 at the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station. Erickson was the only ranger able to visit the site of a K2 Aviation flightseeing crash near Denali. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Erickson, wearing a climbing harness, hung from a fixed rope attached to a helicopter and stood on top of the plane, which was "unstable" and in a depression in the crevasse. The search lasted less than 5 minutes because clouds were moving in again quickly.

[Video: Denali ranger describes efforts to reach crashed plane]

A couple of inches of snow covered the contents of the plane, Erickson said as he described the mission at the Talkeetna ranger station Monday afternoon. More looked like it had drifted in.

He found the bodies of four of the five people and detected no signs of life, Erickson said. It's possible the fifth was inside but he just couldn't see that person because the incoming weather limited his time in the nose of the aircraft.

No footprints or disturbances led away from the site and there were no other signs to indicate any of the occupants made it out of the plane, officials said.

The weather closed back in, making additional efforts to find the fifth person impossible for now, Belcher said.

The plane crashed at about 10,500 feet near the summit of what's known locally as Thunder Mountain, a feature roughly 14 miles southwest of the summit of Denali in extremely technical terrain on a hanging glacier.

The National Transportation Safety Board is assigning two investigators to look into the crash "because of the issues here," said Clint Johnson, the agency's Alaska chief.

The investigators will head to Talkeetna from Anchorage in the next few days, Johnson said.

"Whether we're going to the site or not, that's to be determined," he said. "This apparently is in a very, very precarious location."

K2 is working with all responding agencies to cooperate fully with the investigation, the company said in a statement emailed by public relations firm Thompson & Co.

The company, family owned and operated for 55 years, is owned by Suzanne and Todd Rust.

"The first responders from the National Park Service, FAA, NTSB, and Alaska Air National Guard have our utmost thanks and appreciation for their tireless efforts," the company statement said. "It is imperative we understand the factors surrounding this incident to help prevent any further tragedies. We would also like to thank the community of Talkeetna and our tour partners across the state for its support in the recent days."



A K2 Aviation de Havilland Beaver, left, sits at the Talkeetna airport Monday, Aug. 6, 2018. Another de Havilland Beaver operated by K2 crashed during a flightseeing operation Saturday near Denali, killing all five people aboard. At right is a larger de Havilland Otter. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

The ridge where the plane crashed was described by searchers as "a mix of near-vertical rock, ice and snow."



An overview of the terrain surrounding “Thunder Mountain” (referred to on the map as “Thunder”) near the Kahiltna Glacier in the Alaska Range. Thunder Mountain is the location of downed flightseeing plane that crashed with five people aboard Saturday. (Courtesy the National Park Service)

A park service helicopter launched two hours after the crash and got within a mile of the plane's GPS coordinates broadcast by an emergency transponder but couldn't spot the wreckage or make radio contact, officials said. An Air National Guard helicopter and two K2 planes flew the area Saturday night but also couldn't see anything or communicate with the downed plane.

The search resumed Sunday at about 5 a.m. but a heavy cloud cover blocked efforts to find the plane and the search was suspended again.

The National Park Service high-altitude helicopter, along with an Air National Guard C-130 and two HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters, departed early Monday morning.

The plane was found a little over 36 hours after it crashed.

It's been years since a Denali air taxi company experienced a fatal crash in the Alaska Range.

Pilot Keli Mahoney and three passengers died in May 2003 when the Cessna 185 she flew crashed at the 8,200-foot level of South Hunter Pass.

Well-known pilot and dog musher Don Bowers died, along with three rangers, in a 2000 crash along the Yentna Glacier after Bowers reported a wall of clouds blocking his normal route to Talkeetna.

In 1981, a flight crashed on the mountain and all aboard survived — initially.

A Cessna 185 operated by Hudson's Air Service crashed at 10,300 feet in Kahiltna Pass on Denali.

Pilot Ed Hommer and three passengers — Hommer's brother-in-law Dan Hartmann and tourists Patrick Scanlon and Mike Clouser — all survived the initial crash, though Hartmann and Scanlon ultimately died on the mountain. Rescuers didn't reach them for four days and nights.

Clouser and Scanlon's estate won a federal court case against the United States, asserting negligence in the rescue effort to retrieve them from the mountain.

Devin Kelly reported from Talkeetna and Zaz Hollander from Wasilla.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the first name of the climbing ranger who was lowered to the crash site. His name is Chris Erickson.

www.adn.com/alaska-news/aviation/2018/08/06/search-resumes-for-flightseeing-plane-that-crashed-near-denali-no-word-on-pilot-or-passengers/

This link likely will NOT work in Europe. On my recent travels there I was unable to check my local news at www.adn.com It appears they have not yet found it worthwhile to investigate and comply with the new EU laws that became effective this last May.

[kaima]

www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/08/06/us/ap-us-alaska-sightseeing-plane-crash.html

The New York Times picked up on an earlier (Sunday) version of the story and updated it once the Polish tourists were known to have been killed.

Polish Tourists Killed in Sightseeing Plane Crash in Alaska

By The Associated Press
Aug. 6, 2018

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Searchers on Monday found four people dead in a sightseeing airplane carrying Polish tourists in Alaska's Denali National Park — a day and a half after thick clouds hampered the response to distress calls.

Another person is missing and presumed dead after the crash Saturday evening on a mountain ridge about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of Denali, North America's tallest mountain. After going down, the pilot, identified Monday as Craig Layson, reported by satellite phone that passengers suffered injuries, but the connection failed before he could give details.

The airplane was stocked with sleeping bags, a stove and food, giving hope that survivors would be found despite terrain described by the National Park Service as "extremely steep and a mix of near-vertical rock, ice and snow."

Low-lying clouds and rainy conditions prevented crews from spotting the wreckage until a break in the clouds Monday allowed a helicopter to reach the crash site.

A park service ranger was lowered down on a line from the copter and dug through snow that had filled the aircraft to find the bodies of four people. There were no footprints or other disturbances in the snow that would have indicated anyone made it out of the plane, the park service said.

The ranger was pulled out after confirming the deaths. A park service spokeswoman said she could not comment on recovery plans.


"We're working that out right now," Katherine Belcher said.

The plane operated by K2 Aviation had taken off Saturday evening with Layson and four passengers from Poland for a tour of Kahiltna Glacier, the jumping off point for climbers attempting to climb Denali.

It crashed around near the top of 10,900-foot (3,300-meter) Thunder Mountain, which rises above the glacier and is described by the park service as more of a milelong ridge than a mountain.

Immediately after crashing, Layson used a satellite phone to call the K2 office in the community of Talkeetna. He made a second call about an hour later, Belcher said. On one of the calls, he said passengers were injured, but the connection failed.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Ideally, an investigator would travel to the crash site and keep analyzing the wreckage when it was removed from the mountain, spokesman Clint Johnson said.

A recovery likely will not occur until later this week at the earliest because of foul weather and the dangerous location, he said.

"My understanding is that it's in a crevasse-laden area," Johnson said, adding that reaching the site will "require technical climbing experience."

Layson was from Saline, Michigan, the Saline Post reported. He also owned Stony Creek Collision in nearby Ypsilanti, Michigan, manager Bobby Seldkamp told The Associated Press by phone Monday evening.

Belcher said the park officials were working to contact family members in Poland before identifications would be released. Belcher said the tour had been arranged by a tour operator in Poland with K2 Aviation.

Jason Martin, director of operations for American Alpine Institute, said more crevasses appear with summer snow melt and climbing generally ends in mid-July.

"Everything becomes harder because of the amount of crevasses opening and the weaker snow bridges," he said.


But sightseeing flights can still land on the glacier, allowing visitors to walk on the ice field, officials said.

Temperatures on the mountain at 11,000 feet (3,353 meters) can be warm if the sun is out but likely below freezing at night, he said. His company regularly flies with K2 Aviation for Denali climbs, and before taking off, pilots give passengers a briefing on emergency gear stowed in the back of the airplanes, he said.

K2 Aviation suspended all sightseeing flights after the crash and said it's cooperating with the investigation. The company is owned by Suzanne and Todd Rust and has been family-owned and operated for 55 years, according to a statement.

[kaima]

Thunder Mountain ridge ...





A closer view of the daunting face of the mountain.

I have flown this area as a tourist and on the job three or four times, so I have been able to admire the beauty and ruggedness of this area. It is truly spectacular. I have flown all over Alaska building airports in my career, and this beauty is stupendous. That is why I have happily joined friends as they came up as tourists. I recommend the Denali flight seeing, and specifically the sight seeing flights from Talkeetna. They offer a rare chance to take you places and in geography you will find in few places on this earth.

Something I wrote earlier in a discussion on flightseeing around Denali:

you are taking off from northern Taiga forest with the moose, bear and local habitat; you then fly over the river and continue to the end moraines of the glacier, first seeing plant covered rock rubble lines of hills (the moraines), and passing on to the ice being newly exposed by melt from the sun, over the exposed ice sheet with crevasses and pots (small ponds) of melt water trapped on the surface of the ice; by then you are entering into the narrow rock valley walls on each side of the glacier and fly over the almost indistinguishable neve zone where the exposed ice is transitioning though melting snow to the recognizable snow covered part of the glacier. This is where you can enjoy seeing the undulating surface of the snow covered glacier with its snow bridges spanning some crevasses, while other crevasses have their black inside exposed to view. At this point it is fun to speculate on picking a safe route between the danger points in the old days when expeditions started on the ground at Talkeetna instead of flying as today (Fly an Hour or Hike a Week was the sales pitch at flying to base camp). That gives you a good idea of how far you have flown in the short time you have been in the air!

Then you get into the spectacular vertical rock walls and fly into the Ruth Amphitheater (they changed the name since) and fly around this cauldron floor of snow and ice surrounded by vertical rock walls.

Flying over the ridge to fly over the Base Camp or to land at Base Camp on the glacier runway are the options at this point. Whatever your choice of length of flight, I do recommend flying from Talkeetna. It is so much more spectacular than just flying over the Park.

[kaima]

Overall it was a terrible week for Europeans in Alaska. Here is another story, this time a death of a young fellow from Austria.


Alaska News
Man dies in Wrangell-St. Elias packrafting accident


Author: Laurel Andrews Aug 6, 2018

A 22-year-old man from Austria died last week in a packrafting accident in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, an official said.

Aidan Don, from Salzburg, Austria, died Aug. 2 after his raft capsized, National Park Service spokeswoman Margie Steigerwald wrote in a release. His body was recovered the next day.

Don and a friend, who were both novice packrafters, were dropped off at a lake near the base of the Nizina Glacier for a daylong packrafting trip on Aug. 2, according to Steigerwald.

Three miles downriver, the two men became separated by more than 100 yards, Steigerwald wrote. The friend then spotted a capsized raft "and no sign of (Don)."

The friend landed on an island and called for emergency assistance via satellite phone, Steigerwald wrote.


Don's body was spotted by aerial searchers 4 miles farther downstream, on the south side of Nizina River, near Mile High Cliffs, Steigerwald said. The surviving man was picked up, and searchers called for additional help with the recovery.

A helicopter was requested due to difficulty in accessing Don's remains, Steigerwald wrote. With help from Denali National Park and Preserve crew, park rangers recovered Don's body around noon on Aug. 3.

"The body was transported to the state medical examiner and an investigation is on-going," she wrote. The men were not wearing flotation devices, according to Steigerwald.

"Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve rivers are cold, silty and conditions change constantly depending on rain and sun, both of which increase the volume and depth of the water," Steigerwald wrote. "The Park's rivers can be extremely challenging, even for experts, and are not recommended for unguided novice rafters. Dry suits and personal flotation devices are highly recommended for all river rafting and packrafting trips in the park."

* * *

Adding to the normal unknowns are the changes with glaciers retreating.
glacierchange.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/nizina-glacier-retreat-lake-formation-alaska/

[kaima]

Bad weather keeps recovery efforts grounded for fatal plane crash near Denali
Author: Devin Kelly

A second day of stormy weather prevented authorities from returning to the wreckage of a K2 Aviation plane near Denali on Wednesday, but investigators were in Talkeetna to take the first steps of piecing together what happened.

Five people — a pilot and four passengers from Poland — are believed to have perished when the flightseeing plane crashed Saturday on a remote mountain deep in the Alaska Range. It was the deadliest accident in recent history for an air taxi flying into Denali National Park and Preserve.

Katherine Belcher, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service, said authorities were not able to fly to the crash site Wednesday because of the weather. Details on the plan for recovering the aircraft and the bodies of the victims were not immediately available Wednesday, but the process is expected to be time-consuming.


The wreckage of the K2 Aviation plane is near the summit of Thunder Mountain on the north side of the ridge, a feature located roughly 14 miles southwest of the summit of Denali. (NPS photo)
The wreckage of the K2 Aviation plane is near the summit of Thunder Mountain on the north side of the ridge, a feature located roughly 14 miles southwest of the summit of Denali. (NPS photo)
Meanwhile, two investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Talkeetna and began to work. They spent Wednesday looking at photographs of the crash, speaking with families of the victims and interviewing employees at K2 Aviation, said Shaun Williams, one of the two investigators.


Records for two satellite calls placed by the pilot, Craig Layson, on Saturday night are also of interest to investigators. Williams said. He said the NTSB interviewed some, but not all, of the K2 Aviation employees who would have been involved in taking those calls.

Because of the ruggedness of the terrain, investigators won't travel to the crash site themselves, Williams said. The de Havilland Beaver is perched on a hanging glacier on the north side of Thunder Mountain, a 10,500-foot ridge about 14 miles from the summit of Denali.

The K2 Aviation Beaver that crashed at Thunder Mountain on Aug. 4, 2018, is shown here picking up passengers on the Ruth Glacier April 1, 2014. (Photo by Merrick Peirce)
The K2 Aviation Beaver that crashed at Thunder Mountain on Aug. 4, 2018, is shown here picking up passengers on the Ruth Glacier April 1, 2014. (Photo by Merrick Peirce)
But Williams said investigators should be able to reach conclusions about what happened even if they don't have possession of the plane, using photographs, maintenance records and other materials.


Photographs show the wreckage is "highly fragmented," Williams said. The right wing separated from the aircraft and is lying a few hundred feet below the main crash site, Williams said.

The main cabin behind the aircraft's wing appeared to be fractured, Williams said.

He said investigators will spend Thursday collecting more documents, conducting interviews and examining maintenance records.

If the aircraft comes off the mountain, the NTSB will also examine the wreckage, Williams said.

But the NTSB does not itself do wreckage recovery, Williams said. That is being led by the National Park Service, and involves insurance companies, Williams said. He referred further questions to parks officials, but said at a news briefing Wednesday afternoon that the recovery plans were still coming together.

[Jaga]

Kai,

I did not see this post until now. It is sad. I guess, one had to be prepared for everything while flying to such extreme places.

The picture of Thunder Mountain Ridge looks amazing

Alaska has many airplane accidents, remember: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Alaska_DHC-3_Otter_crash

Polish people are daredevils, they would risk their lives for adventure - like these Polish climber that would go to climb the mountains in winter or go down K2 on their skiis (see my facebook post)

[karl]

Kai

Indeed so, your land is extremely beautiful, and dangerous. With such rugged mountains and most likely varied weather flying conditions, it is easy to understand the use of aircraft such as the de havilland Beaver with its radial engine and plenty of power.

It was as mentioned, a very bad week for tourist who took the risk and lost.

karl

[pieter]

I am sorry for the deceased Polish people in Alaska. I am sorry for their families, their friends and colleagues. I hope that the bodies of these people can be flown back to Poland soon and that proper funerals can take place there. Wonderful images of the rough Alaska environment where these Poles died. I hope that they enjoyed the scenery before they died, without knowing what was coming.

It is a strange summer. Several of my compatriots died in various incidents in various countries too.

[Jaga]

I saw in Polish press - that these people would stay in the mountains since they are so deeply pressed against the mounts... this would probably become a symbol of what should not be done

wiadomosci.wp.pl/tragedia-polakow-na-alasce-cial-nigdy-nie-da-sie-wydobyc-6283156738336385a



wiadomosci.wp.pl/tragedia-polakow-na-alasce-cial-nigdy-nie-da-sie-wydobyc-6283156738336385a

[kaima]

and the newest from the Anchorage Daily News"

Aviation
Park service won’t attempt risky recovery of plane wreck or bodies near Denali

Author: Zaz Hollander, Devin Kelly, Laurel Andrews



The K2 Aviation airplane will not be removed from the crash site on Thunder Mountain. The plane crashed Saturday. (Photo provided by NPS)


The National Park Service is ending efforts to recover the wreckage of a flightseeing plane near Denali and the bodies of five people inside, saying harrowing conditions at the crash site create too much risk for rescuers.

A park service helicopter reached the crash site Friday morning and a ranger spent an hour searching the aircraft while suspended by a fixed rope. The K2 Aviation de Havilland Beaver is perched on a hanging glacier on the north side of a 10,500-foot ridge about 14 miles from the summit of Denali.

Officials have now determined the steepness of the terrain, avalanche hazard and the condition of the aircraft "exceed an acceptable level of risk" for a recovery operation, National Park Service spokeswoman Katherine Belcher wrote in a statement Friday.

Five people — a pilot from Michigan and four passengers from Poland — were aboard when the flightseeing plane crashed Saturday on a remote mountain deep in the Alaska Range. It was the deadliest accident in recent history for an air taxi flying into Denali National Park and Preserve.


Bad weather persisted for days after the crash, allowing just a 5-minute window for a mountaineering ranger who dropped to the wreckage by rope Monday to confirm that four people were dead and a fifth was unaccounted for.

On Friday, better weather allowed a high-altitude helicopter to get a ranger to the wreckage before 10 a.m., Belcher said. The search of the wreckage lasted an hour.



The K2 Aviation airplane will not be removed from the crash site on Thunder Mountain. The plane crashed Saturday. (Photo provided by NPS)


The body of the fifth victim was found inside, Belcher said.

"Hazards at the crash site include, but are not limited to, avalanche danger, steep snow/ice, crevasses, unstable seracs (blocks of ice loosely attached to the mountain) and aircraft-related concerns such as protruding pieces of jagged metal," she wrote. "The crevasse where the wreckage sits is a dangerous and potentially fatal terrain trap should even a small avalanche occur.

"The aircraft is broken in half behind the wing, and the tail section of the fuselage is actively pulling down the aircraft towards a glacier 3,500 feet below. Additionally, more than two and a half feet of new snow has fallen at the crash site and loaded the nearly 45-degree slope just above the aircraft.

"Recovering the bodies and the aircraft under the current conditions would require an extremely complex and unfeasible recovery operation. NPS looks at three primary factors when evaluating risk: severity, probability and exposure.

"Due to the unique challenges posed by the steepness of terrain, the crevasse, avalanche hazard and the condition of the aircraft, NPS has determined that recovery of the deceased and/or removal of the aircraft exceed an acceptable level of risk in all three factors and will not be attempted."

Clint Johnson, chief of the Alaska region National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates plane crashes, said he agreed with the decision.

"It's a tough decision, but I support the (National Park Service's) decision 110 percent," Johnson said.

"We're used to working in tough spots, but this is out of our league," he said.


The decision not to recover the plane was unusual, he said. It's happened only a handful of times during his 20 years at the federal agency, he said.

[Video: Denali ranger describes efforts to reach crashed plane]
www.adn.com/alaska-news/2018/08/06/video-denali-ranger-describes-efforts-to-reach-crashed-plane/


The NTSB attempted a site fly-over Thursday, but cloud cover prevented the crew from flying directly over the crash site, Johnson said.

Weather permitting, the agency may attempt another fly-over in coming weeks, Johnson said.

To complete its investigation, the NTSB will be using photos taken by National Park Service rangers, and interviews with pilots who were in the area that day and with K2 Aviation. Johnson said his agency also has GPS tracking data from the plane.

"There's still a lot of information to gather," Johnson said. A preliminary report will likely be released next week, he said.

Of the 126 total fatalities on Denali — both aviation and mountaineering accidents — 44 of those bodies are unrecovered, according to Belcher.

The most recent unrecovered plane crash occurred in June 1997, when a Cessna 182 disappeared with four people onboard. The wreckage was never found, Belcher said.

Before that, the most recent crash was in July 1984, when five people died during a scenic flight from Anchorage that crashed in steep terrain at 11,300-foot elevation in Ruth Glacier, according to Belcher.


www.adn.com/alaska-news/aviation/2018/08/10/park-service-helicopter-reaches-wreckage-of-plane-on-ridge-near-denali/

[karl]

Kai

Thank you for the update on this situation. Perhaps in future time as weather and conditions improve the remains will be located and returned to their families for closure.

Karl

[kaima]

Trapped in the wreckage: NTSB provides glimpse into minutes after flightseeing plane crashed near Denali
pencil Author: Zaz Hollander

Aug 16, 2018

PALMER — The pilot of a K2 Aviation flightseeing plane that crashed near Denali in early August lived long enough to report at least two fatalities before communications ceased, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday.

The crash killed all five people aboard the de Havilland Beaver, making it the deadliest in recent history for an air taxi flying into Denali National Park and Preserve.


The plane left Talkeetna's airport around 5 p.m. Aug. 4 and crashed an hour later, authorities said. Pilot Craig Layson, of Michigan, and four Polish visitors died in the crash

K2 told investigators the one-hour tour was scheduled to fly over multiple glaciers and the Denali Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier, at 7,200 feet, and then return to Talkeetna.


Before he died, Layson conducted two satellite phone calls with the K2 office within an hour of the crash.

The NTSB preliminary report describes the first call: "The pilot stated that they had impacted a mountain and needed rescue. The call only lasted a couple minutes before the connection was lost."

Contact was made again after several tries, the report said, and Layson at that time told K2 "he was trapped in the wreckage and there were possibly two fatalities. No further information was received before the connection was once again lost."

The plane's GPS track data indicated the plane flew over base camp at 5:46 p.m. that day, then turned south above Kahiltna and south before turning left toward Talkeetna, the report says. The track terminated near the knife-edge ridge above the glacier.

The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center got an alert from the plane's emergency locator transmitter at 5:53 p.m., NTSB learned. Three minutes later, K2 was alerted the satellite tracking had stopped moving, and the air carrier immediately initiated lost-aircraft procedures.

Bad weather kept rescuers from reaching the craft for more than 36 hours. A ranger lowered by helicopter the morning of Aug. 6 found the bodies of the pilot and three passengers inside; the body of a fourth passenger was found later, according to the report.

The fractured aircraft is perched on a hanging glacier on the north side of a 10,500-foot ridge known as Thunder Mountain, about 14 miles from the summit of Denali.

The National Park Service last week ended efforts to recover the wreckage and the bodies inside, citing a harrowing and risky combination of steep terrain, avalanche hazard and the condition of the aircraft.

[Jaga]

Kai,

I feel for the pilot, especially if he was alive for many hours after the accident. Was the accident mainly caused by bad weather or by some internal air current? I realize that the bad weather did not help the rescue mission, still I am not sure. Maybe the pilot was just flying with some carelessness this time?