A Piper PA-18 Super Cub crashed in a narrow ravine inside Denali National Park and Preserve on Wednesday. Authorities have reported that no survivors are expected from the crash.
The wreckage of the plane was discovered Thursday morning following the report of an overdue flight report. According to the National Park Service, the flight was scheduled to arrive late Wednesday.
Denali National Park and Preserve officials were informed by the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center that they had initiated a search for an overdue aircraft in the park’s southwest preserve.
Using coordinates from a Personal Locator Beacon associated with the overdue pilot, the RCC had launched an initial search aircraft late Wednesday night, Aug. 9; however, the flight was turned around due to weather.
On Thursday morning, RCC launched a second rescue flight to the search zone. Military personnel located the aircraft wreckage in a narrow ravine in the park’s southwest preserve.
The search crew was unable to land at the accident site due to the steep terrain, but they observed that survivability of the crash was unlikely.
Coordinating with investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, Denali National Park and Preserve rangers will fly to the site Friday afternoon to continue the investigation.
The identity of the pilot has not been released, and it remains uncertain whether a passenger was onboard the aircraft at the time of the accident, but sources in the aviation world say there was another person on the aircraft.
Strange that there is no accident report on the FAA’s web site.
Drove from Anchorage to Fairbanks Wednesday. Plenty of bad weather south side of the park. Good day NOT to be flying!
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