Sightseeing Plane Impacted Terrain At Nearly 11,000 Feet

A de Havilland Beaver on a sightseeing flight with five people aboard impacted terrain Saturday near Denali in Alaska, the tallest peak in North America. All five people on board the aircraft are feared fatally injured. The accident occurred on a remote mountain at an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that the pilot and at least some of the passengers, who were from Poland, initially survived the accident. The pilot was identified by the National Park Service as Craig Layson of Saline, MI. He and his wife had spend the last two summers in Alaska, according to the report.

Layson made two calls from a satellite phone in the hour after the accident, and said that there had been injuries. The plane was equipped with a survival kit that included sleeping bags, a small stove, food and first-aid supplies.

A National Park Service ranger was able to reach the accident scene during a brief break in the weather Monday. The plane was found in a crevasse on the mountainside, according to climbing ranger Chris Erickson. He confirmed that none of the people on board had survived, but was only able to account for four of the people.

Erickson was suspended from a helicopter flying above the crevasse. He stood on the airplane, which he described as "unstable", and the inspection of the aircraft lasted less than 5 minutes as the weather was deteriorating. Erickson said there was no evidence that anyone had been moving around in the airplane, and could see no tracks or any indication that anyone had left the accident scene, so he presumed that all five bodies were still in the Beaver's cabin.

The ridge where the plane impacted the mountainside is described as a "mix of near-vertical rock, ice and snow."

The plane was operated by K2 Aviation. The passengers had booked the sightseeing flight through an agency in Poland. K2 is reportedly cooperating with all authorities in the investigation.

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: Original report