Brothers Among 4 Killed as Small Plane Plunges Into Alaska Slough
A Piper Comanche carrying two brothers and two other men struck trees during a go-around and fell into the water near a remote Kenai Peninsula airport, officials say, killing everyone on board.
Four men died Wednesday afternoon when their small plane clipped trees while trying to abort a landing and plunged into a tidal slough near the airport in Seldovia, Alaska, a remote coastal community reachable only by air or sea on the southern Kenai Peninsula.
The Piper PA-24 Comanche went down in Seldovia Slough around 1:15 p.m., coming to rest submerged in roughly 13 to 17 feet of water just off the runway. Alaska State Troopers and other responders had to wait hours for the tide to recede before divers could reach the wreckage and recover the bodies.
Troopers identified the pilot as 68-year-old Eric Middlebrook of Anchorage, a former mayor of Bethel who ran a commercial refrigeration business and had spent decades flying to rural villages across Southwest Alaska. His passengers were his brother, 65-year-old Ronald Schmidt, Ronald's 20-year-old son Lance Schmidt, and 82-year-old Daniel Simons — all three visiting from California, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
What investigators know so far
Clint Johnson, chief of the Alaska region for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the flight had departed Merrill Field in Anchorage and was landing at Seldovia's airport from the north when the pilot initiated a go-around. "In the process of the go-around, they struck trees and ultimately fell into the slough," Johnson said, according to reporting confirmed by Newsweek.
"IN THE PROCESS OF THE GO-AROUND, THEY STRUCK TREES AND ULTIMATELY FELL INTO THE SLOUGH."
An NTSB investigator was expected on scene Friday to begin documenting the wreckage, which crews planned to lift from the water by helicopter once conditions allowed. The Alaska State Medical Examiner's Office will conduct autopsies to help confirm cause of death, and a full determination of what caused the crash is expected to take months.
The tragedy adds to a difficult stretch for aviation in Alaska, where small planes are a routine lifeline connecting roadless communities. U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, who represents the state, called the crash "heartbreaking and unacceptable," adding that "aviation safety and infrastructure in Alaska continue to be a top focus of mine."
Seldovia, home to roughly 235 year-round residents across Kachemak Bay from Homer, has no road connection to the rest of the state; the airstrip and the harbor are the town's only links to the outside world. Local officials have not announced any memorial plans, and family members of the victims have not yet spoken publicly.