On 4 August 2018, a

de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing propeller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a bush plane and has been used ...

aircraft operated by K2 Aviation crashed in poor weather near

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, United States. All five people on board survived the crash, but died before rescuers were able to arrive at the scene. The five people consisted of the pilot and four

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

tourists.

Initial rescue efforts

Upon crashing, the aircraft's

ELT ELT may refer to: Education * English language teaching * Expanded learning time, an American education strategy * Kolb's experiential learning theory Mathematics and science * Ending lamination theorem * Extremely large telescope, a type ...

alerted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at about 6:00 pm local time on Saturday. The pilot contacted K2 Aviation via

satellite phone A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio through orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. The advantage of a sa ...

at 7:00 pm to report his situation and request help, stating the flight had run "into the side of a mountain." The pilot called at least two times and reported his coordinates as well as the medical condition of the passengers. However, due to extreme weather and reduced visibility, only limited search and rescue operations were feasible. A National Guard HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, and a Denali National Park A-Star B3e helicopter were deployed on Saturday evening after the crash, but were unable to locate the crash site or make radio contact. The rescue operations were coordinated by K2 Aviation, Alaska State Troopers, the National Park Service, Alaska Air National Guard, the

NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

, the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

and other authorities. Aircraft involved in the search also included a

Lockheed HC-130 The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range, search and rescue (SAR)/ combat search and rescue (CSAR) version of the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, with two different versions operated by two separate services in the U.S. armed for ...

, and a de Havilland Beaver loaded with an emergency survival kit.

Location identified

On the morning of Monday, August 6, just under 36 hours after the crash, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

located the crash site by helicopter. The aircraft fuselage was identified in a

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...

on a

hanging glacier A hanging glacier originates high on the wall of a glacial valley and descends only part of the way to the surface of the main glacier and abruptly stops, typically at a cliff. Avalanching and icefall An icefall is a portion of certain glaciers ...

about above sea level on Thunder Mountain at coordinates , about southwest of Denali. Due to the steep and hazardous terrain, the helicopter could not land, and lowered a ranger by wire to investigate on foot. When the ranger arrived at the site, the aircraft was buried in snow, and four occupants were deceased within. The fifth occupant could not be located, but was presumed dead due to the absence of footprints leading away from the crash site, which would indicate an attempt to self-rescue. The ranger was forced to evacuate within five minutes due to deteriorating weather conditions. Four days later on August 10, a second followup mission located the final deceased passenger in the aft fuselage. The National Park Service reported the same day that there are no plans to recover the aircraft or the bodies of those killed, citing the treacherous location.

Investigation

The

investigated the incident, publishing a final report on 16 December 2019, although NTSB personnel were unable to access the hazardous site personally and instead relied on NPS ranger testimony: Investigators were unable to determine a

probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition or f ...

due to the inaccessibility of the crash site. The report noted: The crash debris field was subsequently destroyed by glacial activity in April 2019, along with the presumed remains of the passengers and crew:

References

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 2018 2018 in Alaska August 2018 events in the United States Accidents and incidents involving the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2018 Aviation accidents and incidents in Alaska Denali Borough, Alaska

Initial rescue efforts

Location identified

Investigation

See also

References