FLYING Magazine
A Piper PA-24-260 Comanche crashed off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday, killing all four occupants, according to officials.
Per a news release from state troopers with the Alaska Department of Public Safety, the small airplane departed Merrill Field Airport (PAMR) in Anchorage and was bound for the community of Seldovia, located about 136 miles southwest of Anchorage on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. A preliminary investigation determined that the aircraft submerged completely after crashing.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will conduct a more thorough investigation to determine why the PA-24 crashed.
Per the Department of Public Safety, troopers were notified of the crash Wednesday around 1:18 p.m. local time. Personnel responded in a marine vessel and helicopter sent from Anchorage.
Troopers later that day recovered the airplane’s four deceased occupants, who were identified Thursday as pilot Eric Middlebrook, 68, of Anchorage, and Ronald Schmidt, 65, Lance Schmidt, 20, and Daniel Simons, 82, all from California.
The Anchorage Daily News reported the aircraft was submerged in 13-17 feet of water, according to Clint Johnson, Alaska region chief for the NTSB. Johnson said people at the scene tried to rescue the occupants but could not reach the aircraft. Anchorage’s KTUU-TV reported that Seldovia City Manager Heidi Geagel was on the scene following the crash.
The incident marks the second fatal crash in Alaska within the past week.
On Friday, a Cessna 441 chartered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for travel to Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site Airport (PAEH) crashed in a remote part of the state, killing both pilots and all six passengers. The aircraft was flying in foggy conditions, according to a preliminary investigation. Cape Newenham is part of a larger network of remote radar sites that tracks aircraft operating in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders.
Alaska is known for having a high incident rate compared to the contiguous U.S. states. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in August called the frequency of accidents “unacceptable” and vowed to lower it.
Per the NTSB, between 2008 and ’17, Alaska’s total aircraft accident rate was nearly 2.35 times higher than the rest of the U.S. Its fatal aircraft accident rate was about 1.34 times higher.
Under its $12.5 billion air traffic control modernization effort, the FAA intends to install 110 additional weather stations and 64 new weather camera sites in Alaska, which it has designated one of the project’s five main focus areas.