Four confirmed dead in Alaska plane crash
The three men, who had been on an Alaskan fishing expedition organized by the Kent Parks Department, and their pilot had been missing since Friday.
The victims were identified as Daniel Maret, 70, of Black Diamond, and Melvin Daniel, 79, and Harold "Ted" Marney, 65, both of Renton. Their pilot was Matt Hipkiss, 35, of Florence, Ore., who also lived in Alaska.
A Civil Air Patrol plane spotted the wreckage about 6:30 p.m. near the Chigmit Mountains. An Alaska Troopers helicopter returned and confirmed the four deaths about 2 1/2 hours later, according to an FAA spokesman. The plane was found 11 miles southeast of Port Alsworth.
John Hodgson, director of the center, said it was a difficult day at the center when word spread of the deaths. "All the staff knew them and it was pretty tough," he said.
The center arranges about 15 fishing trips a year, and the three passengers who died had been on 10 of those trips, Hodgson said.
They left Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for Anchorage Friday morning. They then caught a floatplane operated by Big Foot Air of Alaska for a secluded fishing lodge near Iliamna, a village in southwestern Alaska.
Their plane departed Lake Hood in Anchorage at 10:45 a.m. and was due to arrive at Iliamna Lake about 1:30 p.m. The other members of their group — six senior citizens and a senior-center escort — arrived safely in a separate plane, Hodgson said. The other group is still at the lodge near Iliamna, which Kent center fishing enthusiasts had visited before, he said. Their eight-day trip was originally scheduled to last until Saturday.
Tim DeSpain, spokesman for the Alaska Troopers, said the crash was at the south end of Lake Clark Pass, a route commonly traveled by small aircraft headed to Iliamna Lake, their destination.
Although the elevation is 2,500 feet, they did not crash into the side of a mountain, DeSpain said. It is more a hilly area full mainly of tundra, he said.
The fuselage was intact and all four people were still inside and there had been a fire, DeSpain said. The wings and float pontoons were separate from the fuselage on impact.
Iliamna is a huge lake popular for salmon fishing this time of year, DeSpain said. The lake is dotted with lodges.
Low clouds had impeded the search Sunday for the single-engine plane, the National Guard reported. A dozen Civil Air Patrol planes and a Guard HC-130 searched an area southwest of Anchorage for the craft, described as a deHavilland DHC-2 MK-I Beaver on floats.
Hipkiss began working for Big Foot in May and had worked for other Alaska companies in the past, said Dave Hines, Big Foot director of operations.
Hipkiss has a seaplane base in Florence, Ore. The floatplane, built in 1956, went through a routine maintenance inspection July 5 and was found to be airworthy, Hines said.
Hines said Hipkiss had flown into Lake Hood from Iliamna earlier Friday morning in good weather and reported no problems. His return to Iliamna seemed normal.
Four minutes after takeoff, Hipkiss radioed Big Foot to request a frequency change, a standard procedure. Soon after, he contacted the Federal Aviation Administration's Kenai Flight Services to ask for a weather report for Lake Clark Pass, Hines said.
Hipkiss filed a flight plan, confirming he was going from Lake Hood to Iliamna Lake. Then he checked in with his employer to say he was on his way.
"He said he would see us on the next trip," Hines said