Memorial services for Eugene Peltola, Jr. will be held Saturday, Sept. 16 in Bethel at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. The service starts at 2 p.m. followed by a celebration of life and potluck at 5 p.m. at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center.
Peltola, 57, the husband of Rep. Mary Peltola, died in a plane crash while flying moose meat out of a hunting site about 64 north of St. Mary’s in his small plane. Gene “Buzzy” Peltola was piloting the Piper Super Cub and was the only person on board.
The National Transportation Safety Board has arrived at the crash site at about 2 pm on Friday to delve into the causes of the crash, which some hunting guides and aviators have speculated was a result of a heavy or poorly distributed load of meat in the cargo area of the plane.
Gene was supporting a moose hunt. He had flown out three or four hunters from the area, and two hunters stayed behind.
Gene then made one trip with moose meat, and then left with a second load, with what has been characterized as a large amount of moose meat. That was when the crash occurred on Tuesday evening. The two hunters reached him and tended to him until he died.
A rescue flight from the Alaska Air Guard was unable to reach the site for a few hours due to night conditions and the distance and remoteness of the area. The helicopter was sent from Anchorage on a day when the Alaska National Guard had four other life-and-death incidences to respond to.
The NTSB reported that the the investigative team left Nome early Friday morning and flew to the site via chartered helicopter.
“The team plans to document the wreckage and collect evidence, including devices that may contain important information about the flight. The wreckage will then be removed, by helicopter, to an offsite facility for further analysis,” the NTSB said in a statement.
“Investigators have also received new information about the sequence of events after speaking to witnesses. According to those interviews, the pilot had returned to the area to transport a load of moose meat from hunters he had flown to the location on an earlier flight. The accident occurred when the airplane was departing,” the agency said.
A preliminary report will be available within 2-3 weeks from the date of the accident. It will be available on the NTSB website and posted to the NTSB Newsroom Twitter. The preliminary report will contain factual information gathered during the initial phase of the investigation. A probable cause of the crash and any contributing factors will come in the final report, not expected for another 12-24 months.
