The owner of Alaska Dispatch News crashed her plane in Halibut Cove over the holiday weekend.
In a statement released through her attorney, Alice Rogoff confirms that she was involved in an aborted landing there Sunday. Rogoff says she is physically fine, but her Cessna 206 float plane was damaged.
Alaska State Troopers say the crash took place around 5:50 p.m. Wildlife Troopers responded to the scene in a vessel but did not have contact with Rogoff, according to a Trooper statement. When they got to the location of the crash, the pilot had been safely transported by a private party.
Troopers have turned the case over to the National Transportation Safety Board. Clint Johnson, Chief of the Alaska Regional NTSB Office, says witnesses report Rogoff hit a tree.
“We have not had a chance to interview the pilot, but what we have been led to believe by witnesses in the area is that this airplane was on approach to Halibut Cove, to the bay, to the saltwater bay, and it subsequently struck a tree then ended up crashing into the bay," Johnson said. "One person on board, obviously the pilot, no injuries – substantial damage to the airplane was the result.”
A photo in the Homer News shows that the plane’s fuselage is mostly intact, but with the right wing folded at a 90-degree angle, the other wing bent, one float crumpled under the fuselage and the other float missing. Johnson, with the NTSB, says they hope to interview Rogoff later this week.
“The investigation is in the formative stages here, hopefully we will learn a little bit more once we have a chance to chat with the pilot and find out a little bit more from the pilot’s standpoint exactly what took place,” Johnson said.
In her statement, Rogoff thanks the people in Halibut Cove for their generosity and good spirits and says Clem Tillion’s 91st birthday party went on as planned and she was delighted to attend.