A Michigan teenager was killed alongside the pilot when their small plane went down shortly after takeoff from a remote dirt airstrip last week. KYUK reported that the victims had not yet been publicly identified.
The crash happened near Snag Creek, roughly 50 miles southeast of Nabesna, within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, according to KYUK. As CBS News Detroit reported, the aircraft was carrying two occupants when it went down shortly after taking off on September 17.
State troopers received an emergency notification about the crash, according to KYUK. Investigators later identified the aircraft as a Piper PA-18 Super Cub, which had taken off from a dirt runway, per the same KYUK report.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the crash. NTSB investigator Millicent Hill said investigators hoped to reach the site within three days, according to KYUK. The precise cause remains under investigation, and open questions include whether localized wind, aircraft performance, or weight distribution played a role in the plane's apparent failure to gain altitude after departing the dirt strip.
Nabesna Crash Was Alaska's Fourth Fatal Crash in Less Than a Month
The Nabesna crash was the fourth fatal Alaska crash in less than a month, according to The Alaska Story. On August 20, eight people died when a chartered Security Aviation Cessna 441 Conquest crashed near a remote military radar site at Cape Newenham in Southwest Alaska amid heavy fog, per the same outlet's reporting.
Six days later, four people were killed when a Piper PA-24 headed for Seldovia crashed into Seldovia Slough shortly after departing Merrill Field in Anchorage. That crash included a South Bay family connection, as Hoodline reported in its earlier coverage of the Seldovia crash's family tie.
The cause of the Nabesna crash remains under federal investigation, with no findings yet released.
