Alaska News

Float plane crash on Big River Lakes leaves 6 mostly unharmed

Around 8 a.m. on Saturday, a float plane crash on Big River Lakes left six people mostly unharmed, the Peninsula Clarion reports.

A pilot for the High Adventure Air Guides and Outfitters attempted to land a single-engine de Havilland Beaver when it hit the ground and skidded into a bog next to the lake, located near Redoubt Bay State Critical Habitat Area.

"We thought everything was OK up until the point it touched the ground," passenger Daryl Palmer told the Clarion. "(The pilot) wasn't panicking."

The pilot, four passengers, and a fishing guide all walked away from the crash. Holly Conner, 34, called the crash "gentle."

Conner and Palmer are Peninsula Clarion employees; the other two passengers were a father and son from out of state. The only injuries reported in the crash were cuts to the father's head, near his left ear. A secretary at High Adventure Air Guides and Outfitters told the Clarion that she couldn't give them the pilot's name.

The FAA told the Clarion that the crash is being investigated by both the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board. The cause of the crash was not immediately available.

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Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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