Searchers have located the wreckage of the single-engine airplane owned by a longtime member of the Anchorage Police Department that went missing in the Alaska Range mountains along the Iditarod Trail on Monday. All three aboard perished.
The Cessna 182 of retired Sgt. Ted Smith, a pilot of more than 30 years, went missing on a flight to Takotna, a tiny Interior Alaska village and checkpoint for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race now moving north. Alaska National Guard spokesperson Kalei Rupp said another plane flying above and along the Iditarod trail lost track of the Cessna somewhere near Rainy Pass, high in the Alaska Range.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said Wednesday that the crash happened in Simpson Pass in the Alaska Range, not Rainy Pass, as first reported by the Alaska National Guard. Simpson Pass is located east of Rainy Pass near the headwaters of Threemile Creek. In bad weather,
pilots have been known to mistake Threemile Creek for Pass Creek. Pass Creek leads up a steep-sided valley to Rainy Pass and then drops down along Pass Fork Creek to the north side of the Alaska Range. The
route through is pretty straightforward. Simpson Pass is much harder to negotiate. Mountains block the pass to the north. Just beyond the head of the Threemile Creek valley, a hard turn to the west is required to drop down into the Earl River drainage to cross the range.
Allan Kenitizer, a public affairs specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle, reported that wreckage had been found.
"Please note this information is preliminary and subject to change," he added in an email. He said he was not permitted to identify who was at the controls of the aircraft but said it "crashed under unknown circumstances. According to local authorities, there were three people onboard and they
were fatally injured."
He referred further questions to "local authorities," who weren't talking. An RCC official reported the situation was "developing" and would say no more. He referred questions to the public affairs department of the Alaska National Guard, where only voice recorders were answering the phones.
When Smith's plane failed to arrived in Takotna at noon as expected, people began to get concerned. The 11th Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) was notified just before 3 p.m. that the Cessna was overdue, and shortly thereafter the pararescue specialists from the 210th and 211th Air Rescue Squadrons from the Kulis Air National Guard Base just outside of Anchorage were airborne.
By Tuesday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration reported that the National Guard units had been joined by the Civil Air Patrol and various volunteers with the all-volunteer Iditarod Air Force. They were engaged in a expanding search for the missing plane, but the weather north of the range was reported as marginal.
"Nothing was spotted, nothing was heard last night," said Senior Master Sgt. Robert Carte, superintendent of the RCC. "Yesterday we conducted what is called a 'hasty search,' extensively looking in areas along the projected flight route known to cause problems for aircraft. Today, we have moved into the 'extended search' in which we have grid assignments to search for aircraft and are searching in a systematic manner."
Pilot Michael Schoder of Anchorage, who flew a Super Cub through Rainy Pass Monday morning, reported seeing a Cessna 182 behind him as he headed into miserable weather.
"One of the wildest rides I have had," he said by email. "You seriously had to have your shit together....Basically a huge down draft down the Dalzell (Gorge) all the way to Rohn. I was seeing wind of 50 mph and moderate to severe turbulence. I came eastbound (back toward Anchorage) at 1 p.m. at 6,000 feet. Better -- but still intense."
Schoder reported the speedometer in his airplane showed him doing 95 mph on his way back to Anchorage Monday afternoon, but he was only making a ground speed of 38 mph, an indication of strong headwinds. They were stirring the air into a maelstrom as they hammered away at the mountains. Schoder said his plane was going up and down like a yo-yo in turbulence so bad he several times banged his helmet on the airframe of his plane.
The early hope was that Smith somehow had somehow gotten through and landed somewhere safely. The Rescue Coordination Center in Anchorage said satellites hd picked up no pings from the emergency location transmitter (ELT) in the plane. ELTs are designed to go off if planes crash.
There were reported to be two people in the missing plane with Smith, but their identities were not available.
Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com
EDITOR'S NOTE: Story updated to change the site of the crash to Simpson Pass, reflecting updated information.