Alaska Air Crash Kills 10: Pilot Was Airline Owner


On Sunday morning, an air taxi operated by Rediske Air, crashed at Soldotna Airport, 75 miles from Anchorage.

The de Havilland DHC 3 Otter burst into flames on impact. All ten people on board died in the ensuing fire. They were the nine passengers and the pilot, Willy Rediske, the owner of the company.

Firefighters were called from the Central Emergency Services three miles away. Although they arrived promptly, they were not able to put out the fire in time to save the occupants.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that Captain Lesley Quelland of the C.E.S. said: “We saw the plume immediately when we left the station.” When they got to the plane, the firefighters found that it had crashed but was not on the runway.

Captain Quellend went on to say: “the aircraft was crashed off the side of the runway and it was fully involved in flames.” It took about ten minutes for the fire to be put out, but that was too long, and everyone in the aircraft died.

Investigator Clint Johnson, from the National Transportation Safety Board, confirmed the death toll to the Associated Press.

Meagan Peters, spokesperson for the Alaska State Troopers, said that the fire was so fierce that the rescue team could not enter the wrecked plane. Eventually, they recovered the remains of ten people, which have now been sent to the office of the State Medical Examiner for identification.

The NTSB had to recall local investigator, Brice Banning, from San Francisco, where he was investigation the Asiana Airlines crash.

It’s ironic that five times as many people were killed in this accident than in San Francisco.

Alaska has seen more than its fair share of plane crashes in recent years, including several in this year alone.

Almost three years ago there was another Alaska Plane crash involving a de Havilland DHC 3 Otter. Then, five people were killed, including Alaska Senator, Ted Stevens.

[Image via: Huffington Post. Video: You tube
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