Alaska State Troopers says the pilot and only occupant of a plane that crashed Sunday in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge survived with minor injuries.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety say they received a 911 text message from the pilot, who crashed his Cessna 185 on the shore of Trapper Joe Lake on the northern Kenai Peninsula. Troopers say the plane’s emergency locator transmitter also alerted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. The center sent an Alaska National Guard helicopter to the crash site and transported the pilot to Anchorage for medical evaluation.
The Alaska National Guard says the pilot’s emergency locator transmitter had up-to-date registration, which the agency says expedited the rescue. Officials used the registration to identify the pilot, contact their spouse and verify the aircraft was a single-engine floatplane.
In a press statement, Alaska National Guard Master Sgt. Harry Bromley said the pilot got himself out of the plane before rescuers arrived.
“We found the crash site pretty fast,” Bromley said. “The Cessna 185 basically ran out of lake on floats and went into the trees. It was upside down, and the patient self-extricated.”
The department says wildlife troopers traveled to the lake to document the scene, and that the crash is still under investigation. Troopers are working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the plane from the lake shore.
In a preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board says the plane took off from Anchorage and planned to return to Anchorage. The board says it is investigating the cause of the accident, also called a Class 4 investigation.
The Alaska National Guard says all civilian pilots should keep registration information for their emergency locators current, and consider using radio beacons and satellite phones to expedite rescue operations.
