The US Coast Guard rescued a pilot Sunday morning after his small aircraft went down in the Chilkat Mountains, about 35 miles south of Haines.
At 8:30 am, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Arctic District Command Center in Juneau received an alert from the aircraft’s Emergency Locator Transmitter. Personnel at the Haines Airport reported the missing plane, a two-seat single-engine aircraft that had departed earlier in the day but had not returned.
Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska assumed command of the search-and-rescue mission and directed an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka to the area.
At 10:25 am, the aircrew located the overturned plane near the Endicott River. They landed near the site and recovered the pilot, who was the only person on board. He was not injured and was flown to Juneau in good condition.
The National Transportation and Safety Board will open an investigation into the cause of the crash.