THE LAST FRONTIER’S DEADLY FLIGHTS
Alaska relies on planes more than any state, but it has an unequal share of accidents. Here’s a breakdown.
ACCIDENTS IN ALASKA VERSUS THE UNITED STATES OVERALL**
Total U.S. Accidents Alaska Accidents Total U.S. Fatalities Alaska Fatalities20132014201520162017201810 20 30 40 50 60- HYDABURG: 7/ 10/ 1 8
Single-engine aircraft collision
with a mountain; 6 injured.
5. FREDERICK SOUND: 1/29/19
Air ambulance flight crashes
into water; 3 killed. - WILLOW: 7/ 1 8/ 1 8
Small plane crash during
takeoff; 1 killed, 2 injured.
6. ANCHORAGE: 2/13/19
Severe turbulence on a flight
injures one passenger. - DENALI NATL. PARK: 8/04/18
Flight-seeing plane crashes in
poor weather; 5 killed.
7. KETCHIKAN: 5/13/19
Midair collision between two
tourist flights; 6 killed, 9 injured. - RAINY PASS: 9/24/18
Single-engine airplane crashes
during a cargo flight; 1 killed.
8. METLAKATLA : 5/20/19
Floatplane crash-lands in
water; 2 killed.
regulated f lying environment that has
no designated f light pat hs, it’s easy to see
how the factors can add up to disaster.
In the Lower 48, there are similar areas
popular with air tour companies, such as
the Grand Canyon, but there are def ined
f light corridors and common points where
pilots report their location.
In the wake of the midair collision,
the NTSB made the rare step of dispatch-
ing a “Go Team” to the site. Made up of
aviation specialists and investigators
from across the country, and led by oneof the f ive board members, the team was
in town for a week, overseeing recovery
of the wreckage, interviewing survivors
and company personnel, and gathering
information on company operations. In
a hangar in Ketchikan, the investigators
laid out pieces of Randy Sullivan’s plane,
hoping to reconstruct the aircraft’s f inal
moments. As his wife and children began
the bitter reality of life without him,
investigators looked at every place his
plane was hit, every tear to its frame,
every strike it received from the brutalbeating of the larger aircraft. It will be
at least a year before the answers to what
happened become clear.
As for Taquan Air, seven days after
the midair, it was involved in another
crash. In Metlakatla Harbor, a company
floatplane flipped on landing, killing both
people onboard. The pilot, a new seasonal
employee from Pennsylvania, had been
with the company for one month and was
hired with only f ive hours of f loatplane
experience. The NTSB is investigating,
and today, the company continues to f ly. Q*Info comes from the NTSB and includes only serious accidents involving air taxi and/or commuter planes. **NTSB stats include all Part 135 accidents.SERIOUS AIR TAXI AND COMMUTER ACCIDENTS SINCE JULY 2018*
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