Mass Transit (Airline, Cruise Ship, Train, Bus)

• FAA Faulted in 2007 Misty Fjords Fatal Plane Crash

  Mike Schneider | August 15, 2008 9:17 PM | 4 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  The NTSB has issued a report critical of the FAA's oversight of flightseeing operations by Taquan Air Service. The Ketchikan flight service lost a Beaver on floats, its pilot, and four passengers...

• FAA Shuts Down Mavrik Aire

  Mike Schneider | August 06, 2007 12:31 AM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  FAA officials revoked the pilot's license, mechanic's license and operations certificate of Mavrik Aire, owned and operated by Craig Schweitzer. Schweitzer intends to continue part 91 fishing and flightseeing operations despite the FAA action. People visiting Alaska need to check into the history and reputation of the air services they use. Mavrik Aire had a fatal crash in 1998 and the FAA...

• Andrews Missing in Presumed Plane Crash

  Mike Schneider | August 13, 2008 12:51 AM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  Deputy Commissioner of Revenue, Brian Andrews, 56, and his son, Brandon, 24, are the subject of an intensive search in areas between Young Lake and Juneau. The Cessna 182 on floats had dropped...

• Helicopter Medivac Crash Leaves No Survivors

  Jane Schneider | December 10, 2007 12:34 AM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  Monday, December 3, 2007, a helicopter carrying John Stumpf, flight nurse, Cameron Carter, paramedic, Gaye McDowell, patient, and flown by Lance Brabham went missing less than half way through a 90 minute flight between Cordova and Anchorage. Saturday, Stumpf's body was found with some wreckage along the flight path that would have taken the flight through Portage Pass on its way to Anchorage. ...

• Plane Crashes in Alaska: Serious Injury and Death Above U.S. Averages

  Mike Schneider | April 22, 2008 10:55 PM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  Fast changing weather, bush landing sites, animals on the runways, and pilot inexperience help make Alaska a very dangerous place to be an aircraft passenger. Pilots die at a rate 100 times the...

• Kodiak Crash Kills Six

  Jane Schneider | January 06, 2008 10:45 AM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  Nine passengers and an experienced pilot, Robin Starrett, were on board Servant Air's PA-31 Navajo Chieftain when it crashed into icy waters 50 yards from the Kodiak runway. The pilot encountered unknown problems just after the charter flight departed Kodiak for Homer. Another air taxi operator, Dean Andrew, was on the scene immediately and helped rescue 4 of the survivors, one of whom...

• Cook Inlet Plane Crash Kills Three

  Mike Schneider | July 21, 2008 4:00 PM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  The 60 year old pilot, Thomas Iverson, and his two passengers perished late in the morning of July 12, 2008, when the Cessna floatplane crashed and burned on the West side of Cook Inlet. The crash...

• Palmer Plane Crash Injures Pilot and Instructor

  Jane Schneider | November 16, 2007 12:31 AM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  Last Friday the student pilot of a Cessna 150, David Terrill, and his instructor/passenger Dennis Covel, were hospitalized after crash landing on the Palmer Golf Course. They struck a tree on approach to the Palmer airport and had to put the plane down. Cases such as this are complicated and require retention of a skillful attorney.Normally the pilot, responsible for the safe operation of the...

• Plane Crash Needs Fast Thorough Investigation

  Mike Schneider | June 25, 2007 12:08 AM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  On June 20, 2007, the pilot of a wheel-equipped Cessna 206 crash landed onto Yukon Island in Kachemak Bay near Homer, Ak. All four occupants suffered serious injuries. The cause of the engine failure that forced the plane to crash land hasn't been determined. Product failure could have caused the crash, as could other possibilities. If the crash victims are to receive justice, a fast and...

• Caravan Gear Failure Leads To Minor Injuries

  Mike Schneider | January 16, 2008 8:04 AM | 0 CommentsAnchorage, AK

  Tuesday, a Grant Aviation medivac flight landed in Bethel, but the nose gear failed before the plane could be safely parked at the airport. Snow conditions on the taxiway may have contributed to the fialure and the NTSB is investigating. A couple of the people on board complained of pain after the incident.