Juneau, Alaska — A man and two children were found with non-life-threatening injuries Monday near the wreckage of a small plane on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula that had been reported overdue the night before, authorities said.
The wreckage was spotted by what the Alaska State Troopers called “a good Samaritan aircraft.”
The pilot and the two children were taken to a hospital after the wreckage was discovered Monday morning near the east side of Tustumena Lake, according to the state troopers. The three were immediate family members, troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel said by email.
The troopers confirmed to Alaska station KTUU-TV Monday that the two young passengers were of elementary and middle school ages.
Troopers previously said they received a report late Sunday that a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser was overdue. It listed suspected locations as Tustumena Lake and the Kenai Mountains, east of Homer. The 60,000-acre lake has been described by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as “notorious for its sudden dangerous winds.”
Homer is a Kenai Peninsula community about 220 miles southwest of Anchorage.
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John Morris, who told KTUU he’s the pilot’s father, praised the Kenai community for its help in the search, saying he has “air in my lungs again.”
Family friend Scott Holmes also thanked the community, KTUU reports. After Holmes posted a call for help on Facebook, he said, his daughter told him there were 420 shares on his post. “I’m proud of the guys that stepped up and went out and helped out,” Holmes said.
One of the local pilots who pitched in, Dale Eicher, told KTUU he has a background in performing search and rescue. He said he’d barely started looking when he heard over the radio that someone had found the plane and the three people — then spotted three people walking on the ice.
Dennis Hogenson, of the National Transportation Safety Board, called the situation “remarkable and good news.”