A Girdwood man is dead after his small plane crashed Friday on the south side of Kachemak Bay. Alaska State Trooper spokesperson Beth Ipsen says that 66-year-old George Vonderheide was found by Troopers Friday afternoon in the wreckage of his aircraft near the Wosnesenski River southwest of China Poot Bay.
Troopers took a report on the crash at about 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, says Ipsen, after a crew from the Homer Electric Association flew to the area investigating a power outage. When the crew arrived at the river, they picked up a signal from an emergency locator and soon discovered the crash site, located in shallow water on the east side of the river.
Ipsen says weather and visibility were bad Friday, with rain, fog and low-lying clouds reported in the area. She says it appears Vonderheide’s plane clipped power lines and crashed. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
Aaron Selbig is a reporter at KBBI in Homer.
