Alaska News

'Flying Wild Alaska' returns for third season on June 8

Been hankering for that little extra Alaska reality TV fix? Well, fret no more, because the Discovery Channel has announced that "Flying Wild Alaska" -- the show about bush pilots working for Era Alaska -- is returning for a third season on June 8. It marks less than six months since season two concluded, with Ariel Tweto completing her first solo flight.

The show follows Ariel and the rest of the Tweto family, including sister Ayla, mother Ferno and father Jim -- who is Chief Operating Officer for Era Alaska -- along with numerous pilots working for the airline.

According to a press release from the Discovery Channel, the new season will cover a lot of ground. Some highlights:

  • Ariel Tweto continues her quest to get her pilot's license and faces the biggest obstacle of her career
  • Massive solar flares wreak havoc on airplane equipment across the state
  • Pilot Sarah Fraher has a sudden mid-air breach at 3,000 feet -- in minus-40-degree temperatures
  • Ariel joins a search and rescue team to help find a missing friend
  • Pilot John Ponts is once again the rookie as he is transferred to Era's most unforgiving hub: Barrow, Alaska
  • Pilot Erik Snuggerud's moose hunt turns into a fight for survival
  • Pilot Doug Stewart attempts to land on a treacherous runway to fly schoolkids out for their first visit ever to the mainland
  • John Kapsner and his co-pilot race to find stranded snowmachiners who have been out overnight in the deadly cold
  • Pilot Ben Pedersen attempts to retrieve a priest in 40 mph winds so he can deliver Easter mass in the villages
  • Jim Tweto hopes to build a new cabin and gold mine, but must get 15,000 lbs of equipment across a thawing river to make his dream a reality

Based on the season 3 trailer, it's going to be a bit of a disconnect between the weather of the summer months and the time the show was filmed, as Alaska endured one of its coldest, snowiest winters on record. You can check out the trailer below.

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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