got a call at work this morning that a c-152 crashed on teh Yukon/AK border near Haines, AK.. i cant give too much details right now but will provide some more in the next few days...bottom line is the guy was 180 degrees away from his flight plan and the best part is that he survived!! lucky lad. He was medivaced to Anchorage! Anyhow, some of you may already know him or the story and can add to it but if you see him, touch him and buy a lottery ticket!

I don't have much more on details of this one, I was running a Dozer along the highway when the ambulance and fire/rescue trucks went by. They held the pilot in Haines for a very short time and medivaced him on out of here. He went in just a few miles from where some state troopers went in with a goose several years back and not far from where I scared the Poo out of myself.

sort of a bad spot where the moist valley air hits the colder dryer alpine air and creates ground fog and clouds right down to the deck.

I will post more info if I hear any.

I sure wish people would stop doing this sort of thing.

shorton wrote:sort of a bad spot where the moist valley air hits the colder dryer alpine air and creates ground fog and clouds right down to the deck.

That has a too-familiar ring. Same phenomenon over Silver City, at the south end of Kluane?

Don't know about that in Silver city, all I ever ran into in Kluane is wind. Some of the best, or worst mountain waves I ever ran into there.

well here's the short and long of it... the pilot is fully at fault, he totally failed to navigate and to tell you the truth, its rather scary that such a pilot is up there... the guy was on a vfr flight plan from Whitehores to Beaver Creek, heading 305.... a lot of tourists up here, much like him, literally fly over the higway and they fully rely on it to take them to destination...this is a classic case of just that...for those who know, the Alaska highway takes a 90 degree turn at Haines Junction which will take you to Beaver Creek/Fairbanks... if you miss that turn, you keep going straight and 1 mile down it takes a long shallow left turn at which time you find yourself flying heading of 140...straight for Haines, AK, 180 degree difference!...that's what he did, then , as Shorton knows (we were both there at same time) the cloud layer was getting lower and lower and lower down to the ground...he eventually hit the ground, nose wheel first, and while he bounced, it spun him 180 and came to a rest...no flip, no major injuries, no fire, just a LOT of LUCK...

here's me venting now...how come some sunday pilots dont know how to read maps, how come they fail to follow simple flight planning rules ie: follow the general heading, what other part of their flight management skills have they forgotten/omitted or simply dont know...and bare in mind that it was a perfect VFR day from Whitehorse to Beaver Creek untill he was 50 miles off course 180 degrees away from his course... For one to fully rely on the highway like that (not because of a weather issue), you must know you're lacking in skills and in trust for your aircraft.

This lad was a US pilot with a US aircraft and in no way shape or form am I blaming nationality here... believe me, we (Canada) are dealing with our share of such pilots... So what's the solution here... we're not talking about driving here where our really bad drivers always have the option to pull over and collect themselves... Should annual check out/written test/xtry plan be mandatory (I hear you guys in the US have some sort of mandatory exam every year, we dont) I dont know but it sickens me that people are playing with their lives, lives of their pax and people on the ground for what appears to me a total lack of skills and everything else...

ahhh...I feel better now, BCT

BCT, do you need a hug today?

I know what your saying, there are a lot of people flying out there that should not.
How they ever got a pilots license is beyond me. Now days a lot of people rely on there GPS.
No map skills involved any more. Jump in and turn a key and take off.
I am glad you got home ok. Was good to see you even for a short time.
Take care my friend and safe flying...

Ken in Alaska

On a positive note, is it me or the Alaska/Yukon rate of crash compared to last summer is like 800% down...(I'm hammering my wood table now) BCT