Alaska small plane crash kills 2 a week after a deadly mid-air collision involving the same carrier

10TC.com ^ | 05/21/2019

[BenLurkin]

Two people died Monday afternoon when the plane they were in crashed into Metlakatla Harbor, Alaska, a week after another deadly crash nearby involving the same operator.

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough confirmed on its Facebook page that "a pilot and a single passenger" died in the crash of the de Havilland Beaver floatplane operated by Taquan Air, reports CBS Anchorage affiliate KTVA-TV.

The names of the deceased were being withheld pending notification of their next of kin.

[KC_Lion]

Alaska Ping!

Thank You for the post BenLurkin.

[KevinB]

... but that alone does not infer there is a safety issue with the company, their pilots or type of aircraft.

Sigh.

[ALASKA]

I have a relative who lives in Metlakatla and works at the medical facility there. They knew the patient and had flown with the pilot. Like so many places in Alaska, you can’t get there by road. Metla is on an island, so it’s boat or plane.

I didn’t read this article, but what they think happened is not uncommon with float planes. If the front of the pontoons clip even a small wave or if the plane comes in a little too steep and at the wrong angle, the plane will flip.

I had a good friend who, on his first flight with a float certification, came in too steep and flipped the plane and died. I’ve known way too many people who died in small planes in Alaska.

The patient in the current case was deathly afraid of flying. It must have been beyond horrible for her.

[ALASKA]

I have a relative who lives in Metlakatla and works at the medical facility there. They knew the patient and had flown with the pilot. Like so many places in Alaska, you can’t get there by road. Metla is on an island, so it’s boat or plane.

I didn’t read this article, but what they think happened is not uncommon with float planes. If the front of the pontoons clip even a small wave or if the plane comes in a little too steep and at the wrong angle, the plane will flip.

I had a good friend who, on his first flight with a float certification, came in too steep and flipped the plane and died. I’ve known way too many people who died in small planes in Alaska.

The patient in the current case was deathly afraid of flying. It must have been beyond horrible for her.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

I don’t know a lot about the passenger, but I do know that she was an epidemiologist working in remote areas. It sounds like she was a servant, not just an employee. I also know that she fairly recently worked for the EIS (Epidemic Intelligence Service) branch of the CDC. We often criticize government workers, and often for good reason. But those in the EIS are the unheralded best of the best. They often have taken sharp reductions in pay from their previous medical professions to risk their lives going into the worst areas of the worst third world countries to tackle outbreaks of malaria, Ebola, cholera, etc. That she was with the EIS speaks highly of her.