Australian couple killed in plane crash north of Fairbanks
by Rod Boyce /
[email protected] Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Jul 19, 2012 |
FAIRBANKS - A small private plane crashed about 40 miles due north of Fairbanks on Wednesday, killing the Australian couple on board.
The plane, a PA-32 Saratoga six-seat aircraft, crashed under unknown circumstances. It was headed from Fort Yukon to Fairbanks, due to arrive after 5 p.m., according to Clint Johnson, a senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, he said.
Alaska State Troopers identified the two people killed as Stephen Knight, 64, and passenger Gillian Knight, 60, both of Queensland, Australia.
The plane was registered out of Palo Alto, Calif., to LNP Saratoga, an aircraft rental and leasing company and was leased to the West Valley Flying Club, an organization that rents more than 40 planes and also is based in Palo Alto, Calif.
As of Thursday night, an investigator for the NTSB had left Anchorage to investigate the crash but was waiting in Fairbanks for the weather to clear the crash site, Johnson said.
Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said troopers received a call from the state Rescue Coordination Center in Anchorage just before 4 p.m. Wednesday to report that a plane had disappeared from the radar.
A Civil Air Patrol aircraft discovered the wreckage about 6:30 p.m. but was not able to access the site, said Johnson, with the NTSB.
Rescue crews from the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons of the Alaska Air National Guard in Anchorage were sent to the scene, arriving just after midnight Thursday.
“The aircraft was on fire,” National Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes said this morning. “They could see there were fatalities on board. They weren’t able to recover anyone.”
Peters said poor weather conditions in the region hampered recovery efforts Thursday morning. Troopers will be working with NTSB investigators, she said.
EmW21
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July 20, 2012
I Got the Chance to meet them on their stop in FYU.
They were exiting to meet.
(I never met Australians before.)
Me and a Co-worker just so happened to be at the airport when they were looking for a phone to call in somewhere. So I let them use my phone to make some calls. They were really generous too, they tried to give me twenty bucks for two phone calls. :) but just meeting them was good enough for me.
VANlTYMOCKER
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Carlie_87
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July 20, 2012
Rest in peace my beautiful Godparents. I was blessed to have you in my life. Much love xxx
Mhyda
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July 19, 2012
These people were friends of mine. Lovely generous authentic people. They will be sadly missed by me and their children and grand children. Rip Steve and Gil
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Mr.roadtrip
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July 19, 2012
It's sad but the "lets go take a look" mentality has killed a lot of people in Alaska. I came back from Galena yesterday and it looked very crappy to the north.
It was not VFR weather.
It's also sad that the adventurers are the ones who die young. I hope I make it to 64.
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Raven_33
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July 19, 2012
They were not flying VFR they were IFR with a controller at Anchorage ARTCC. The controller lost radar contact and requested the Automation Technican provide the last coordinates of the radar contact. It was obvious from the data that the plane lost altitude rapidily in a tight turn. The pilot made numerous turns prior to losing contact. I could give you the last known coordinates but I'm not allowed to release them without a FOIA request.
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Raven_33
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July 19, 2012
Snep10, It appears he was in a canyon and may have been circling to found a way out. I don't know this for sure but looking at the area on Google Earth, they were in a valley between two mountains and were circling. With the weather like it was, they may have been looking for a way out. Please don't take this as fact as I am just guessing. BTW, I was the one who gave them the Lat/Long of where they went down.
baradium
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July 20, 2012
Raven_33:
Are you positive whether the flight was IFR or VFR? If they were IFR then they should never have gotten into a canyon in the first place (minimum IFR altitudes along that route would be well above that of the canyon walls).
Most likely in a canyon they also would not have good radar coverage.
Could they have been a VFR flight using flight following? (where the controller watches you but you still operate under visual rules)
A rapid altitude loss in a tight turn following unexplained turns before loss of contact could be related to spatial disorientation. This is usually caused by VFR flight into IMC or marginal VMC (legal VFR weather but on the low end to where you lose the horizon, that is what killed JFK Jr in his plane crash). It can also happen during certain types of avionics failures during Instrument flight.
There are many more possible explainations at this point, and it will likely be quite a long time before any probable cause is released.
AlaskaJackson
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July 20, 2012
They were flying VFR !
Gillain and I chatted in Ft Yukon International Airport. She told me they had flown in from Unuvik that morning, to turn back near Livingood due to weather. because her husband was flying VFR not IFR, They were waiting it out in Ft Yukon.
Very nice lady, greeted everybody with th GoodDay! She was telling me about Queensland, and the heat of summer, and the goings on. They left Ft Yukon about 3:30pm , I left on Wrights at 3:45pm. I was looking thur clouds and was concerned about them flying VFR in that weather. I was sicken when I read Thursday morning that a plane down about 4:30 pm Wednesday. I knew which plane it was.
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Raven_33
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July 20, 2012
I very well may be wrong on the VFR/IFR deal. That's why I'm not a controller. I just maintain their equipment. All I know was the controller was watching him and believed he was flying in an odd manner. You're right, that if IFR the controller would have been telling him where to go. When he lost radar contact, he immediately called for us to pull data on him so we could start SAR. Controller did an outstanding job. We were able to put SAR within 1/2 mile of the location by using his tracked Radar returns.
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baradium
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10 Hours Ago
It's a sad situation all around. To fly in marginal VFR weather you might be legal without IFR equipment (which they probably had) and an instrument rating (I suspect they didn't) but that's really what you need.
Flying in alaska can be very rewarding, but it can be very unforgiving as well if you do not respect it.
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JimBobWay
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July 19, 2012
The Alaska Air Guard and Civil Air Patrol are different organizations. If Civil Air Patrol found them, which unit was it?
July 19, 2012
The way I'm reading it, CAP found the scene; AKANG is responding. For CAP to go up for hasty search isn't uncommon.
CAP has fixed wing, AKANG has rotor. The now-defunct Kulis folks in ANC still bring their SAR guys up here.
JimBobWay
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July 19, 2012
I agree. Thank you. Reading again they say wreckage found by CAP then Guard came in. Kudos to all! My motivation was to acknowlege the CAP guys and which unit it was. They would never ask for themselves. Great bunch of volunteers. My guess, it was the 71st out of Eielson. And Eielson is in danger of closure, they do more for our community than put dollars into the economy.
Yota99714
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July 19, 2012
psinc
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July 19, 2012
I had drinks with Steve and Gillian at our flying club a couple of days before they left for their holiday in north America. He was so excited about the experience of a life time.
Still can't believe we have lost them. Lovely people. Always positive, caring and always a pleasure to be with.
Those of the club that are already aware of this tragedy are still in shock.
Our thoughts are the family and friends they left behind.
I will be at the club this afternoon with no doubt many others, to have a drink for Steven and Gillian.
FYU2
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July 19, 2012
I spoke to your aunt and uncle and the other man that was with them when they were looking for av gas. They needed to use a phone to call customs. Your uncle was a sweet and generous man. He offered to pay for the use of the cell phone which was not necessary. I am so sorry for your loss.
ADF2
VANlTYMOCKER
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July 19, 2012
This is very sad. They were very active and productive people. Here is their business website:
Choice Homes QLD :: Queensland Property Builder (http://www.choicehomes.com.au/choicehomes/Index.aspx)
Wingmaster
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July 19, 2012
I was in Fort Yukon when the plane landed, sat for a minute and it took a while for the engine to start while it was cranking over. It eventually started after a long minute, taxied back out and took off. When it left it was climbing very gradually so I thought it was more of a tour flight to stay low but maybe the pilot was nursing the engine and I had a bad feeling watching leave out of sight.
I believe it was a Everts Air flight, my friend was about to see if there was room on the flight to go to Fairbanks. When we saw the engine having a hard time to start we said hell no. We can wait until tomorrow.