"(Pilot Terry Smith) and several others agreed to do two-week stints to fill in," said Duncan, who was neighbors with 62-year-old pilot on Campbell Lake. The pilot who quit had "personal issues," Duncan said, without elaborating.
Smith died in the crash.
Duncan spoke to reporters in a series of short interviews -- the first time he has agreed to answer questions since the crash. Duncan is a central figure in the recent events: the dead and injured were guests or employees of GCI, which owned the lodge where they stayed and the plane in which they died; he also helped coordinate rescue operations from the lodge. Duncan's physician wife, Dani Bowman, was one of the first responders on the scene, spending the night with survivors before a military crew could evacuate them. Duncan is also a pilot.
Duncan said that earlier that day, Smith had encountered turbulence flying between Dillingham and the Agulowak River lodge where Stevens, lobbyists, GCI employees and their families were staying.
The pilot said "everybody would be sick by the time we got to the river," Duncan said. "We didn't like that idea so we spent the morning around the lodge."
"Senator (Stevens) worked in his BlackBerry, camped on the wi-fi. Other people sat in front of the fire and people kind of relaxed," Duncan said.
After a late lunch that ended after 2 p.m. or so, Smith announced weather conditions were good enough for a run to the river, he said.
Eight people, along with the pilot, got in the de Havilland Otter to make the trip to the Nushagak, which can take 25 to 45 minutes, depending on the weather, Duncan said.
Duncan said Smith was familiar with the route to the fish camp.
"He had flown it dozens of times over the prior 10 days. He was familiar with the area and the routes are all in the GPS," Duncan said.
Stevens was a regular visitor to the GCI lodge over the past 20 years, Duncan said, sometimes bringing Senate colleagues or policy makers to go fishing.
"In the early years before the federal, the executive branch rules got too restrictive, we had FCC chairmen and other critical telecommunication policy makers out there." He said the trips allowed Stevens to explain Alaska issues first hand.
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