Anchorage pilot Terry Jurenka, 64, and Chugiak resident Troy Nicolson, 47, had flown to the pass to check on a friend who was hunting for moose in the area, Nicolson said Wednesday. The trio ate dinner and Jurenka and Nicolson decided to head for home, Nicolson said.
As the Cessna 180 lifted off the ground, a gust of wind slammed the left wing down and the plane cartwheeled, Nicolson said.
"I thought that was it, I was going to die," Nicolson said.
The plane landed facing the opposite direction, and though the men were bruised, they were OK, he said.
"I can't believe this just happened," Nicolson remembers thinking. "Terry's a great pilot. We've flown together for years, and there's probably nobody else I'd want to fly with."
Jurenka smelled fuel and said they needed to get out of the plane quick, Nicolson said. They climbed out and activated an emergency beacon, he said.
Another friend monitoring their flight received the distress signal and called Nicolson's wife, who called Alaska State Troopers, Nicolson said.
Troopers notified the Alaska Air National Guard about 11:10 p.m., the Guard said.
At about 1 a.m., rescuers flew an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter and an HC-130 fixed-wing plane to the area to search for the crashed Cessna, which they spotted about an hour later, according to the Guard.
The helicopter landed in the pass, and the three men hiked toward it from where they'd holed up for the night, Nicolson said. All three climbed onboard, and the helicopter flew them to Providence Alaska Medical Center about 3:20 a.m., the Guard said.
The rescuers were "extremely professional and I can't thank 'em enough for being out there," Nicolson said. "They were surprised that we were able to walk out of there."
Nicolson was back at work Wednesday after getting checked by medical staff. The hunter, his longtime friend, had returned to the pass to get the moose he'd harvested but left at camp, Nicolson said.
Troopers said the National Transportation Safety Board was notified of the crash.
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.
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