A 48-year-old man died in a snowmachine crash in Southwest Alaska on Thursday, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers wrote in a Friday dispatch that Gusty "Elia" Ishnook, of the village of Koliganek, had driven his Polaris snowmachine into a berm at the edge of a frozen lake.
On impact, the snowmachine went airborne. It traveled 55 feet before it hit the ground, flipped and rolled another 70 feet, troopers said.
Ishnook was thrown from the snowmachine and critically injured. He was declared dead at the scene, and his body was taken to King Salmon, a community about 284 miles southwest of Anchorage.
The fatal crash occurred between Koliganek and the neighboring village of New Stuyahok. About 230 people live in Koliganek, on the left bank of the Nushagek River about 65 miles northeast of Dillingham.
Ishnook was accompanied by another snowmachine carrying Myrtle Kaye Ishnook, 35, and Joey Lee Gust, 25, both of Koliganek. Their snowmachine struck the same berm, and both passengers were ejected. Myrtle Ishnook was unhurt, but Joey Gust was injured and was taken first to Koliganek Clinic for treatment. He was then taken to the hospital in Dillingham.
None of the travelers were wearing protective gear, troopers said, and alcohol was suspected to be a factor.
Arrangements were being made to send Ishnook's body to the State Medical Examiner Office in Anchorage for further investigation, troopers said.