An de Havilland Beaver that is operated through the Alaska’s Enchanted Lake Lodge Inc. and an Bell 206L-4 LongRanger helicopter owned through Maritime Helicopters collided in mid-air over Katmai National Park during Labor Day Weekend. The pilot of the plane and passengers were not injured, however their pilot suffered injuries during the collision.
The incident occurred around the time of 4:30 p.m. the day before. It occurred close to Lake Coville in a northern part within Katmai National Park and Preserve.
“It was hit by the tail rotor portion which is located there. The back of the helicopter suffered damage,” stated Clint Johnson who is the NTSB’s Alaska region head. “The plane was able perform an emergency landing in an adjacent creek, and the helicopter fell uncontrollably to an area of tundra as well as trees overgrown terrain.”
The pilot of the helicopter was able to escape from the incident, however the pilot was subsequently taken to Anchorage for a second medical examination.
Katmai National Park doesn’t have an air traffic control tower, which is used to ensure that landings and take-offs are coordinated. Mark Sturm is the park’s superintendent. He said that pilots typically communicate via radios to avoid collisions such as this one.
“Pilots who enter the park are essentially communicating with one another and attempt to control the local traffic by communicating with one another about the direction they’re advancing and what they’re doing as well as being in contact with planes on surface,” Sturm said. “But clearly the case in this instance is that the two planes weren’t in contact and the incident occurred due to.”
The planes were approximately 1,000 feet above the ground when they came into contact in the first report. Johnson of the NTSB said investigators are talking to both pilots.
“What we’re trying to accomplish now is determine how these two planes met – then ultimately figure out whether each of the pilots was able to recognize each other and the events that caused it,” he said.
Johnson states that a preliminary report will be released at the end of this month.
In July, another Bell 206L-4 operated by Maritime Helicopters crashed into the North Slope, killing the pilot as well as three state scientists.
