An air taxi crashed at the Soldotna Airport on Sunday morning, killing all 10 people onboard in the worst aviation accident in Alaska in more than a decade.
The de Havilland DHC-3 Otter airplane crashed at 11:20 a.m. at the Soldotna Airport, according to the Alaska State Troopers and Soldotna Police Department. The plane was operated by Rediske Air, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The National Transportation Safety Board described the flight as an air taxi, but on Sunday evening was still trying to confirm who was onboard and where they were going.
This news really shook me this morning because my daughter is currently on the road for a television program.
However as I read the details I calmed down as she is driving in a rental car, with no plans as far as I know to fly anyplace, and this accident took place on the other side of Alaska from where she is supposed to be.
I wish I could say this kind of crash is a rarity, but up here it simply is not.
Many of you will undoubtedly remember that it was a plane crash which ultimately took the life of Senators Stevens, and it has been plane crashes that have taken many Alaskan lives over the years.
My own experiences with flying on smaller planes have been nothing short of terrifying and I have tried to keep my daughter off of them over the years, which is difficult because sometimes her job requires traveling through parts of Alaska not easy to reach by the road system. (She DID in fact fly in a small plane for a job at one point and decided simply to forget to let me know. Not happy about that.)
Anyhow as you can imagine I feel badly for the people involved in this tragedy and my thoughts are with the families.
(Don't hold your breath waiting for a response from the Grizzled One, she is no longer interested in local problems. Especially if she cannot find someway to blame it on President Obama.)
Could we please just express condolences to the families and friends and not talk about HER at all????
ReplyDeleteThe last thing these families need is to have this situation used as way to trash SP.
I agree with you, Kerry.
DeleteStatistics would probably show that travel by aircraft is safer than traveling by automobile by any number of categories. Actual fear of flying is an irrational response. Although sometimes water does get in the fuel of small planes and they stop flying. So there's that.
ReplyDeleteGood point. Betcha Curtis Menard, Jr, could enlighten us on that. Oh.........never mind.
DeleteFear of flying is an irrational response.
DeleteUHH no it isn't.
You are placing your life in the hands of another human - who may make mistakes, who could be tired, or depressed, or overwrought or impaired...
I like to be in control. I fly, but not often and only when absolutely necessary. My husband flies every week and I hate it.
Neither humans nor the equipment we rely on are infallible.
It's plane crash season. BE SAFE PEOPLE. But when you have a state where 90% of the people are pilots, the percentage is going to be higher. Group that with weather conditions, and, it aint pretty.
ReplyDeleteWhat state might that be? It certainly isn't Alaska! Would love to know where you're getting your "statistic" from.
DeleteThere is no state that has ninety percent of their population as licensed pilots and there are probably more licensed pilots in my COUNTY in Texas than all of Alaska.
DeleteWow, That dig was inappropriate. I see maturity is still lacking here. I don't see why she'd talk about something that is kind of unavoidable. Well, it's avoidable if NO ONE flew anywhere.
ReplyDeletesmh
Wow yourself. Condolences are only given if the accident is avoidable? Some politician and leader she'd make- oh wait, I forgot.
DeleteObviously you don't know the bitch too well.
DeleteI mean, she talks (read that as bitches) all the time about people dissing her for stupid crap she says. isn't that unavoidable? Oh yeah. That's right. Sort of like flying: if no one flew anywhere....
So, if she didn't open her ignorant mouth....
Same thing, right?
I consider nearly every FB tweet/screed by Palin to be inappropriate and in many cases there are the deaths of innocents involved but it never stops her somehow trying to make hay out of it for her own benefit.
DeleteThe point I took is that Palin never bothers to make comments showing feelings for others and such a horrendous crash in her 'beloved' state should have warranted one of her FB posts where she 'grieves for the families' losses'. Wars are very avoidable but she rarely avoids mentioning the ones in progress or the ones she feels should occur like Egypt or Syria if it somehow furthers her 'cause'.
@smh Sarah's Facebook has several posts about her cousins band. Meanwhile, it simply good manners to express relief that so many people survived the horrific airplane crash in San Francisco, and also express sympathy for those who were injured and killed. The reason that Palin (or her ghostwriter) hasn't bother to post that kind of thing is because she can't shake her fist at President Obama and blame him. The problems rest with the airline company and the emergency vehicle which might have run over one of the survivors.
DeleteIt would be the same cordial, good manners to express sympathy for the ten people who died in the Alaska plane crash. That would have been Pain's golden opportunity to write about how careful Todd is when he flies, and remark about remote places that can only be reach by plane. And, if that's the post that eventually shows up on her facebook, remember that it came from IM.
The sign of a good leader is to care about everyone, not just those who represent her fan base and contributors.
As for smh's comment that the crash was kind of unavoidable, that's for the FAA to determine. The plane came in too low and too slow. The pilot had 9,000 hours of flying experience but on 43 on this kind of plane. Unavoidable? Is smh implying that it was the fate of the plane to crash? That's really stupid thinking. Considering the photos of the wreckage, the correct response is to marvel that so many people were able to survive what looked like a terrifying experience.
She will talk about it now that we've goaded her into it. We are the Palin Puppetmasters here at IM and saruh is just one of our puppets we like to toy with. She's reading this comment right now. Hi Saruh!
Delete"I don't see why she'd talk about something that is kind of unavoidable."
DeleteIt also would be just a waste of time to FB about anything that doesn't involve her, money, or dissing Obama, right?
Still "shaking my head"? You stupid brain-damaged moron. You really need to stop shaking your head so hard. You are damaging your brain. But I guess you can't grasp that.
DeleteSo who on the plane pissed off Todd?
DeleteThat's what I think everytime there is a plane crash in AK.
WTF does "smh" mean? Stupid mother humper?
Gov. Rick Perry Will Not Seek Reelection
ReplyDeleteTexas Gov. Rick Perry (R) announced Monday that he would not seek an unprecedented fourth full gubernatorial term.
He left the door open for a 2016 presidential run, however, saying that he would spend the remainder of his term leading "this great state" and praying and reflecting to "determine my own future path."
"I will arrive at that decision appropriately," he said.
Perry touted his own accomplishments as governor and called his position the "greatest job in modern politics."
He knows he'd lose if Wendy were to have run against him. The guy is an idiot and has been a horrible governor for TX. They so badly need to turn that state 'blue'!!!
DeleteAnd, He doesn't stand a chance in running for POTUS. We saw enough of him last go around and he was one huge failure!
I agree with Kerry.
ReplyDeleteThis was tragic and it genuinely jarred me to learn about it. As so many of us fly all the time in Alaska, there are plane accidents and deaths here than in most places. Yet, even though I have lost a number of friends to plane crashes, I have lost more to car and motorcycle crashes. Your daughter is no safer traveling by auto then by plane. In fact, on the whole, she is less safe in a car than in a plane, even in Alaska. Living is just risky, period.
As friends who fly a lot on small planes say, "You've only got so many hours..."
DeleteYeah, I remember flying to villages in Alaska . . . . Summer and winter. My talisman was to a) wear a huge parka and b) have an orange and cashews in my pocket in case of a crash. Yeah, it was just sheer "what the fuck" time, but it was part of my job so I did it.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of factors that make flying in Alaska different from flying in the 48--and we're talking small planes here, not the jets that fly everywhere in the lower 48. There are few roads and there are lots of pressures to just go ahead and "get there."
This is an old study but I suspect the results would be similar today: more crashes and more fatalities:
"In 1980, the National Transportation Safety Board conducted a special study of air taxi operations in Alaska. The Safety Board found that for the study period, the rate of non-fatal air taxi accidents in the state on the basis of hours flown was almost five times higher than the national rate, and the fatal accident rate was more than double the national rate. The Safety Board determined that the higher rates were due to inadequate airport facilities, insufficient ground navigational aids, and what it calls "the bush syndrome" - pilots taking unwarranted risks in order to complete a flight.
--Introductory NTSB comment by Mike Busch, AVWEB"
I live on an island. I have to fly to get in and out. Nowadays with the new navigation systems that incorporate GPS mapping and terrain maps, it makes flying out here much more safe. I love that system, can't remember the name of it right now, came into AK within the last decade.
ReplyDeleteI used to fly in and out on small single engine planes. Took many a flight with one hand holding onto the seat strut, one hand bracing against the roof and one hand on the barf bag. So glad I don't have to do that anymore. We now have a flight service that are complete professionals. Safety always comes first. They are fanatical about caring for the planes, not overloading, and not flying in weather that is dangerous. Also, they only fly twin engines. I trust them so much more and feel a lot safer than I do when driving out to Wasilla from Anchorage on a Friday afternoon with all the crazy drivers.
Gryphen: Glad your daughter is safe and know how you must have felt for those few seconds, not knowing if she was flying. Parents never are on "worry hiatus" even with adult children.
ReplyDeleteWhat a tragedy. And why does it take so long to identify the people? Were there no families who've called authorities about missing loved ones? It may be they know who they are and are waiting to inform their loved ones first.
It depends on if the pilot filed appropriate paperwork listing each passenger's name, etc. Also, this plane burned on impact, they can't say which is body is who because they are unidentifiable based on facial recognition and fingerprints.
DeleteBecause they were all from out of state, it probably took longer to locate next of kin. When it was taking a while, that's what I suspected.
DeleteServing Alaaaaska, progressing Alaaaaaaska obviously means NOT GIVING A SHIT ABOUT ALAAAAAASKANS.
ReplyDeleteBitch.
However, she is probably tres preoccupied, what with the Homeland Security letter implicating Toad imminently.
She can't sleep, can't eat.
Schadenfreude!
When I worked (am retired now), I was in sales and traveled to Kenai and Soldotna via air (small aircraft). Winter travel always scared me to death when coming back across the inlet. There was one flight in particular that I'll never forget. The pilot kept checking for icing on the wings - it was dark (later afternoon flight) and we bounced all over the place! It felt like we were losing in actually making it across the inlet because we were bouncing side to side and it didn't feel like we were gaining anything, even though we were. Getting on the ground in Anchorage was such a relief!!!
ReplyDeleteI feel so badly for those tourist and pilot who died in Soldotna. Sad, sad day for Alaska and all the families and friends of the deceased. May they RIP.
$arah will tweet her $orrow as $oon a$ $he can figure a way to gain from other's pain.
ReplyDeleteMy husband flies over to Nantucket sometimes for work. I always get nervous for him. He told me once it was so foggy when the plane finally came into view of the runway it was perpendicular and the pilot had to make a quick adjustment. Yikes!!
ReplyDeleteSad for all those deaths...
My worst small plane ride was to the Prudhoe Bay.
ReplyDeleteI was seventeen and on the flight up there the Cessna I was in had wing repaired with duct tape.
As we flew over the never ending landscape of interior Alaska I watched that duct tape start to work its way loose. When I told the pilot, who was sitting right next to me, he told me not to worry, it would PROBABLY hold until we landed.
Yeah fuck that, I only fly commercial now.