spectr17
12-23-2002, 12:17 AM
Crash kills pilot; passenger survives
UGASHIK: Men were tracking moose for U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
By Tataboline Brant, Anchorage Daily News
December 21, 2002
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pilot died while on a moose-tracking survey when his plane crashed near King Salmon, an agency spokeswoman said Friday. A University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student along on the flight survived.
The plane crashed on the tundra just east of upper Ugashik Lake on the Alaska Peninsula, said Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Karen Boylan. Federal, state and civilian searchers had been looking since the plane did not return to King Salmon Thursday afternoon.
Pilot Tom O'Hara, 41, of King Salmon-Naknek had been flying in the Bristol Bay area for 12 years, Boylan said.
O'Hara was well-known and popular in his hometown, said Sam Egli, a commercial helicopter pilot who assisted in the search and whose crew spotted the wreckage Friday.
"I've known Tom for 20 years," Egli said, "as a fellow pilot, as a neighbor, as a parent. It's going to hit the community hard."
Corey Adler, 30, of Fairbanks survived the crash with hypothermia and a broken leg, officials said. Adler is a student trainee and employee of U.S. Fish and Wildlife since 1997.
The two men left King Salmon Thursday morning for the Ugashik Lake area on the moose survey. The plane made scheduled contact at 11:45 a.m. but did not land at King Salmon at 3 p.m. as expected.
The Coast Guard learned of the situation about 5 p.m. and searched for the missing plane late into the night, said Petty Officer Sara Raymer. The hunt resumed at first light Friday. Four Alaska State Trooper helicopters, a civilian Cessna 180 and a Jet Ranger helicopter from Egli Air assisted in the search, Raymer said.
No emergency beacon signals were received from the aircraft or pilot, Raymer said. The 3-year-old plane was equipped with an emergency transmitter beacon and so were the pilot's and passenger's flight vests, Boylan said.
The crew aboard Egli's helicopter spotted the wreckage about 4 p.m. as they were headed toward King Salmon for a search meeting.
Egli said he hovered over the site, about 8 miles east of upper Ugashik Lake, and found a place to land. His two passengers ran over to the wrecked Husky aircraft. The cabin was crushed and one of the men came back for an ax, he said. The men worked to free Adler.
"His one leg was wrapped around some cable," Egli said. "It took some work to finally get him loose. We put him in a sleeping bag and treated him for shock."
Adler, a wildlife biology graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, was flown to the clinic in Naknek, Boylan said.
O'Hara had more than 11,000 hours as a pilot in command, Boylan said. He'd been a pilot since 1978 and had held his commercial license since 1985.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Tom O'Hara, a fine man and a true professional," Boylan said.
Reporter Tataboline Brant can be reached at tbrant@adn.com and 907-257-4321.
UGASHIK: Men were tracking moose for U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
By Tataboline Brant, Anchorage Daily News
December 21, 2002
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pilot died while on a moose-tracking survey when his plane crashed near King Salmon, an agency spokeswoman said Friday. A University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student along on the flight survived.
The plane crashed on the tundra just east of upper Ugashik Lake on the Alaska Peninsula, said Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Karen Boylan. Federal, state and civilian searchers had been looking since the plane did not return to King Salmon Thursday afternoon.
Pilot Tom O'Hara, 41, of King Salmon-Naknek had been flying in the Bristol Bay area for 12 years, Boylan said.
O'Hara was well-known and popular in his hometown, said Sam Egli, a commercial helicopter pilot who assisted in the search and whose crew spotted the wreckage Friday.
"I've known Tom for 20 years," Egli said, "as a fellow pilot, as a neighbor, as a parent. It's going to hit the community hard."
Corey Adler, 30, of Fairbanks survived the crash with hypothermia and a broken leg, officials said. Adler is a student trainee and employee of U.S. Fish and Wildlife since 1997.
The two men left King Salmon Thursday morning for the Ugashik Lake area on the moose survey. The plane made scheduled contact at 11:45 a.m. but did not land at King Salmon at 3 p.m. as expected.
The Coast Guard learned of the situation about 5 p.m. and searched for the missing plane late into the night, said Petty Officer Sara Raymer. The hunt resumed at first light Friday. Four Alaska State Trooper helicopters, a civilian Cessna 180 and a Jet Ranger helicopter from Egli Air assisted in the search, Raymer said.
No emergency beacon signals were received from the aircraft or pilot, Raymer said. The 3-year-old plane was equipped with an emergency transmitter beacon and so were the pilot's and passenger's flight vests, Boylan said.
The crew aboard Egli's helicopter spotted the wreckage about 4 p.m. as they were headed toward King Salmon for a search meeting.
Egli said he hovered over the site, about 8 miles east of upper Ugashik Lake, and found a place to land. His two passengers ran over to the wrecked Husky aircraft. The cabin was crushed and one of the men came back for an ax, he said. The men worked to free Adler.
"His one leg was wrapped around some cable," Egli said. "It took some work to finally get him loose. We put him in a sleeping bag and treated him for shock."
Adler, a wildlife biology graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, was flown to the clinic in Naknek, Boylan said.
O'Hara had more than 11,000 hours as a pilot in command, Boylan said. He'd been a pilot since 1978 and had held his commercial license since 1985.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Tom O'Hara, a fine man and a true professional," Boylan said.
Reporter Tataboline Brant can be reached at tbrant@adn.com and 907-257-4321.