I can't share much outside of the news release right now. One tough kid though. Heck of a thing. My guys were out there at the crash site in the dark still trying to determine what was what when we got the 911 call about Dan.

Denali National Park and Preserve News Release

October 16, 2009 – 2:00 a.m.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kris Fister, (907) 683-9583, [email protected]


Pilot from Downed Aircraft Alive

Dan McGregor, 35, of Denali Park, the pilot of the missing Cessna 185 that was discovered crashed and burned on Thursday afternoon in Denali National Park, is alive. He has significant burns, and after being evaluated and stabilized by medics from the National Park Service and the Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department, is currently enroute to a Seattle burn center.

In spite of his injuries, McGregor walked from the crash site to the Denali Park Road, where he eventually encountered two campers at the Igloo Creek Campground. These good Samaritans drove McGregor to his home just outside of the park, where he first called his family to let them know he was alive, and then contacted the Alaska State Troopers. The National Park Service was notified at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 15.

McGregor was alert and in good spirits, talking to friends and family via cell phone while being treated and waiting for the air ambulance to arrive from Fairbanks. It is estimated that he walked approximately 20 miles during his ordeal. He will be interviewed later by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) personnel as part of the accident investigation. McGregor has confirmed that remains found at the crash site are those of Gordon Haber. Rangers are stationed at the remote crash site overnight, in order to secure the scene prior to arrival of NTSB investigators on Friday.
-NPS-

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It is good to read that Dan McGregor got out okay! That must have been a tough experience for him. Sad that Mr. Haber didn't make it.

-edit-

From the Anchorage Daily News:

Burned pilot hiked all day to reach help
By RICHARD MAUER
[email protected]
Published: October 16th, 2009 12:01 PM
Last Modified: October 16th, 2009 02:44 PM

The pilot of the wolf observation plane that crashed in Denali National Park was found Thursday evening by two aspiring filmmakers from New Hampshire who first debated whether his cries for help were the howls of a wolf or the pleas of a man.

The pilot, Daniel McGregor, 35, had already beaten the odds by surviving a fiery crash Wednesday that killed noted wildlife biologist Gordon Haber, 67. McGregor spent Wednesday night alone near the crash site, seven miles north of the Denali park road, then, with burns on the upper part of his body and a partially melted fleece jacket, hiked all day Thursday -- about 15 miles -- before spotting the ranger cabin near Igloo campground.

Around 7 p.m., as dark was falling at the campground, Nick Rodrick, 19, of Penacook, N.H., and buddy Jesse Hoagland, 20, of Loudon, N.H., heard McGregor in the distance.

"He thought it was a person, I thought it was wolves," Rodrick said in a telephone interview today from Denali Park. The pair had driven to Alaska in a van, hoping to make a documentary film of their adventure.

After a moment, they heard the sound again. This time, they both knew it was a call for help.

"Helloooo, hellloooo."

Startled, they saw McGregor calling out toward the ranger cabin, which was unoccupied.

"He came staggering up to us," Rodrick said. "It kind of freaked us out at first."

They got McGregor back to their campsite.

"He told us he had lost a guy out there," Rodrick said. "He was really in rough shape."

They didn't press the pilot to explain what happened, though he volunteered that heavy winds coming down a valley caught the plane and he was unable to recover.

They fed the pilot crackers and gave him water and a jacket. Their van was parked about five miles away at Teklanika Campground, the farthest that visitors are permitted to drive into the park this time of year. They set off for the van about 8 p.m.

"He was walking on his own," Rodrick said. "He told us he was starting to see things in the woods. You could tell he had been in the woods, with no food, no water. We kept him talking."

They got the van but were out of cell phone range. With no idea that a search had been under way most of the day for the airplane, they drove right by ranger headquarters near the park entrance. McGregor was finally able to reach someone on his phone, and they met some people at the headquarters of Denali Air, outside the park.

The pilot climbed into a car driven by a friend who was going to take him to a hospital, but they turned back when a ranger reached them by cell phone to explain an ambulance was on the way.

Acting chief ranger Richard Moore, a medic, said he talked to McGregor in the car when it got back to Denali Air, then got him into an ambulance from Healy, the next town north of the park. There, he was met by an air ambulance that flew him to a burn center in Seattle, where he was reported in satisfactory condition.

Moore said rescuers hoped to retrieve Haber's body from the crash site this afternoon. Since the early 1990s, Haber has done extensive research on wolves in and around the park, with his work often sponsored by wildlife-protection organizations. His research was used in court cases challenging state efforts to control wolf populations in the area, and he often clashed with hunting advocates.

Was the pilot from Havey Field ever located?

That is awesome news.

svanarts wrote:Was the pilot from Havey Field ever located?

As of right now, aircraft/pilot has not been located.

You have a good amount of water around....hope he didn't end up in the drink.

re missing taylorcraft
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2009/10/Ai ... pended.htm