Plane down in Yakutat; injuries

Coast Guard aircrews medevaced two people from Dry Bay Airstrip, approximately 30 miles southeast of Yakutat after their plane crashed, Tuesday.

A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew arrived on scene and transported two people with critical back injuries to Yakutat, and Yakutat Police Department transported a third person in critical condition with breathing issues to Yakutat.

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules aircrew then embarked the three patients and transported them to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport where they were taken by Anchorage EMS to Providence Alaska Medical Center and Alaska Native Medical Center. 

A good Samaritan transported the fourth person reported to be in stable condition with minor injuries to medical care in Yakutat.

Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders received an emergency locator transmitter alert at approximately 3:15 p.m. and Coast Guard Sector Juneau command center personnel received phone calls from good Samaritans reporting that a Dehavilland DHC-3 fixed-wing single engine plane carrying four people had crashed.

The cause of the incident is under investigation. The N number on the plane indicates it is owned by Hans Munich of Yakutat Coastal Airlines in Yakutat.

“The great work of Air Stations Sitka and Kodiak to provide critical rescue services to these crash survivors in Yakutat speaks volumes about the professionalism and expertise of the pilots and aircrews,” said Capt. Alan McCabe Coast Guard 17th District chief of response.

The rescue that was coordinated by two air stations was all the more noteworthy because Air Station Kodiak was simultaneously using a second C-130 for to search for a possible missing mariner from a skiff in Cook Inlet while Air Station Sitka sent an MH-60 helicopter to assist the survivors of this plane crash in Yakutat.

The local service professionals in Yakutat were also critical to help the survivors and their expertise and teamwork are commended. We are extremely proud of the women and men across these two air stations that made this case happen so seamlessly to assist these survivors in such a challenging remote location.”