Posted on 08/10/2010 4:00:01 AM PDT by tlb
JUNEAU, Alaska - Authorities said Tuesday that a plane believed to be carrying eight people has crashed in southwest Alaska.
Alaska National Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes said the Guard was called to the area about 20 miles north of Dillingham at about 7 p.m. Monday after a passing aircraft saw the wreckage.
Hayes says there are possible fatalities. State and federal officials say severe weather has hampered the rescue operation.
Hayes says about five good Samaritans were on scene early Tuesday helping the crash victims. He says he was told by Alaska State Troopers that there were "eight or nine" people on board, though a spokeswoman for the troopers, Megan Peters, refused to comment.
The aircraft is a 1957 DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter registered to Anchorage-based communications company GCI, the Federal Aviation Administration told the Anchorage Daily News. A woman at the Regional Operations Center told The Associated Press all further information was pending notification of next of kin.
Dillingham is located in northern Bristol Bay, about 325 miles southwest of Anchorage.
According to the Anchorage Daily News, former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens was reportedly traveling to a GCI-owned lodge in the area and friends are concerned he may have been on the downed plane.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsminer.com ...
If I'm not mistaken, the PSA crew new they were going down and said their goodbyes over the air.
Thanks for the rundown, kind Eye Of Unk. Say did you post to the FReeRepublic thread on FReeper names and how we’re they chosen?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2564815/posts
Mine might have been due to the lateness of night. Or Wodka. It’s a Polish Vodka. Maybe it was a combination of the two but it surely wasn’t what I started out with.
That one was a total bloody nightmare...and then they made an “Emergency!” TV movie of the week with a crash just like it.
Ted Stevens was a historical figure of modern day Alaska, most achievements are contributed to his actions and how he helped lead and shape Alaskas future.
It would only be fitting if Sarah Palin was the spokesperson of Stevens legacy, I hope he is alive but the “no news” is bad news.
I was in San Diego when that crash happened, I was downtown.
Mine was partly because of how the town of Nome, Alaska was named.
When some official was making maps for Alaska back around the last century it showed a township, the name was right on the crease of the crude map and said “No Name” but the cartographer presumed it meant “Nome”.
Um...no. The lifespan of a properly maintained aircraft is almost indefinite. The first KC-135 tanker I crewed, a 1955 model, is still flying today and could be in service until 2040, though it will probably be replaced by a KC-X if Congess ever gets around to buying the bloody thing. B-52s are expected to go to 2040 as well. This sort of length of life is just as likely with private planes as long as they are well maintained.
SF Chronicle: “A U.S. government official says former Sen. Ted Stevens is believed to have been aboard the airplane that has crashed in Alaska.
The official tells The Associated Press Alaska authorities have been told the former longtime Republican senator is among several passengers on the plane. The official, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, says Stevens’ condition is unknown.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/08/10/national/w063622D96.DTL&tsp=1
Just reported on CNBC that possibly four survivors.
I’ve noticed this morning that the volume on Fox drops out intermittently...only for a moment, but it is still there.
MSNBC is reporting that Ted Stevens and former Navy Secy. and former NASA Chief Sean O’Keefe were on board. Rescuers aren’t there yet - tough area to get to. Some deaths, some survivors
If Stevens survives this one too, he needs to seriously consider that God is trying to get his attention.
Not quite, though the last sound on the tape is one of the crew saying, “Ma, I love ya.”
MSNBC finally reporting the crash. They say NASA former Chief O’Keefe was also on the plane with members of his family.
You live near Wasilla? Lucky you. I visited the Matanuska Valley a few years ago. It is other-worldly beautiful in the Summer.
Actually I am 11 miles north of Wasilla but for all purposes we say we live in Wasilla, the next township called Houston is at the end of my 8 acre lot.
You should try living here all year, its a cursed blessing during the long winter, a whole lot less people but the winter is tiring how long it is, we typically have snow on the valley floor from novemeber to april. Lakes have been frozen over into late may sometimes.
That’s an old airplane.
REUTERS reporting that Stevens WAS ON THE AIRPLANE. There are survivors
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