The fatal mid-air collision over the weekend near Trapper Creek is the second in Alaska in less than a month. A family of four died when their single-engine Cessna 180 floatplane crashed Saturday after hitting another floatplane. The pilot of the other plane was able to make an emergency landing.
In mid July, two small planes collided over Lake Clark Pass. No one was injured in that crash.
A federal accident investigator says both collisions involved planes that were difficult to spot amid mountainous backgrounds. Now the FAA is planning to hold safety meetings with pilots on ways to see other aircraft and to be seen.
Drew Hagg is a pilot in Talkeetna who owns Above Alaska Aviation Flight School. He agrees it can be difficult to spot aircraft. And says flying in Alaska is different than the lower 48 because there isn’t much radar coverage:
Lori Townsend is the chief editor, senior vice president of journalism and senior host for Alaska Public Media. You can send her news tips and program ideas for Talk of Alaska and Alaska Insight at ltownsend@alaskapublic.org or call 907-550-8452. Read more about Lori here.
