Era Helicopters has identified its pilot who was critically injured in Thursday’s crash at Norris Glacier near Juneau as Jiri Hanis.
Hanis, 39, was medevaced to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Thursday with critical injuries. A hospital spokeswoman Friday afternoon said he’s in serious condition in intensive care.
Era spokesman Tim O’Leary said Era’s operations in Juneau have been suspended temporarily. He said the start date of the seasonal heli-mush tour on Norris Glacier has also been pushed back from May 12 to May 16.
The pilot was headed up to the glacier at the time of the accident to supply the dog camp, O’Leary said. The helicopter itself is in “pretty rough shape.”
“So, it will be part of the investigation to see if it can – what – can be salvaged,” he said.
Mike Hodges is the investigator in charge on this crash for the National Transportation Safety Board.
“This’ll be a full investigation done by the NTSB,” Hodges said. “And as of right now, we’re waiting on weather conditions to cooperate for recovery operations. So we’re just kind of on standby right now.”
A preliminary report is expected to be published in five to 10 days.
It’s not unusual for weather to limit access to the site. Independent videographer Paul Hemann got stuck on the glacier for three days once because of weather.
“You’d hear the helicopters on the other side just trying to get over and they can’t get over. And they, you know, you’ve got your bags ready to jump on and get out of there, and sat there for three days cause the weather changes, the ceiling changes around those mountains so fast that once they come in, sometimes you don’t got a window to get out.”
“There’ll be … nothing one day, and then the next day, there’ll be a ton of stuff there,” Hemann said. “You know, there might be a big ol’ crack that opened up that’s bottomless.”
Alaska Heli-Mush partners with Era Helicopters for its dog sledding tours on the Norris Glacier. On their website, they describe Era is the “oldest and safest helicopter company in Alaska.”
Jeremy Hsieh is the deputy managing editor of the KTOO newsroom in Juneau. He’s a podcast fiend who’s worked in journalism since high school as a reporter, editor and television producer. He ran Gavel Alaska for 360 North from 2011 to 2016, and is big on experimenting with novel tools and mediums (including the occasional animated gif) to tell stories and demystify the news. Jeremy’s an East Coast transplant who moved to Juneau in 2008.
