Rescuers Relieved to Find Pilot, 2 Children Survived Crash Landing on Frozen Alaskan Lake
Fearing the worst after a prop plane was reported overdue for landing in Alaska last Sunday, search and rescue volunteers were relieved when news rang out that all three passengers survived.
The pilot and two children of elementary and middle school ages survived a crash landing on the frozen surface of Tustumena Lake, and walked until they were seen.
The story first broke Sunday night/Monday morning that a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser which departed Sunday from Soldotna Airport near Kenai on a sightseeing trip didn’t land when it should have.
John Morris, the father of the missing pilot, told CNN affiliate Alaska’s News Source that his son’s cell phone sent its final ping at about 5:00 p.m. Sunday evening over Tustumena.
Alaska’s News Source reports that a National Guard and state trooper search and rescue operation was augmented by volunteers from the community, with one family friend posting a notice for help on Facebook that was re-shared 420 times.
Eventually, it was a Good Samaritan who saw the plane wreckage and 3 people walking on the frozen lake that helped rescuers find them.
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The three survivors were taken to a Kenai Peninsula area hospital and treated for “non-life-threatening injuries.”
Dale Eicher was one of the locals who heard the call for help. With a background in assisting search and rescues, he went up in his own plane to look for survivors, but had barely arrived in the last known position before he heard over the radio that three people had been reported found.
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“I called the troopers immediately because I was still in cell service and I knew it was a really good chance that the guy that had found him was not in cell service,” Eicher said. ” I was really shocked. I didn’t expect that we would find them. I didn’t expect that we would find them alive for sure…it doesn’t always turn out this well.”
SHARE In This Small Community’s Relief For The Survival Of Their Three Members…
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