I belong to the Civil Air Patrol here at Eielson AFB. We were in the process of deploying 4 aircraft for a joint training exercise with the Airforce when we got a call with a real world mission. The planes diverted from Eielson and regrouped at the Fairbanks airport where a plan was laid and grids were assigned. The last known area of the missing plane was somewhere South of Denali Village. After several hours of scanning, one of the pilots spotted a glint of metal. It was just a brief flash that caught his eye. He circled and found wreckage. He was unable to tell if it was old or new. He said it was a localized crash site and debris was not scattered widely. He was able to contact a Alaska Trooper who we knew was in the area with a Cub. The trooper was able to land on a gravel bar about 1/2 mile from the wreckage and hike to it. Below it the resulting find. And it was a lucky find as anyone who has searched the Alaska wilderness can attest to. Its the proverbial needle in a hay stack!

I'll try and find the results of the investigation asap and post them so we can learn what happened here.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - From photographs of the wreckage, Richard Moore figured the odds were extremely poor that anyone survived the fiery plane crash in Alaska's Denali National Park. Remains were spotted in the burned tangle of metal.

Then the park ranger medic got word that the pilot of the Cessna 185 had walked 20 miles for help, despite significant injuries, following the crash that killed his passenger, wolf biologist Gordon Haber. Rushing to respond, Moore braced for the worst, but found Daniel McGregor to be alert and in good spirits, although he had serious burns to his face and hands. The pilot's clothing was burned as well.

"I was frankly amazed and astounded at his condition and his attitude," Moore said Friday. "He was talking and very stoic about his injuries and situation."

McGregor, 35, was flown early Friday to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, where he was listed in satisfactory condition. He was awake and had family at his side, but neither he nor his family was doing interviews, said hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson.

"He is still coming to grips with what happened," she said. "Obviously, it was an emotional experience. He's not only dealing with the physical part of his injuries, but also with the emotional part of this tragedy."

McGregor walked about 16 miles before he encountered two campers. The three walked another four miles to where the campers had parked their car, then drove more than an hour to McGregor's home, where he called his family and Alaska State Troopers, according to Park spokeswoman Kris Fister. Troopers notified rangers late Thursday night.

McGregor confirmed that the remains found at the wreckage are those of Haber, 67, a well-known local independent biologist who had studied Denali's wolves for decades. Fister said officials hoped to recover the remains Friday.

The Cessna took off at about noon Wednesday and was supposed to return by nightfall. Moore said the crash occurred that afternoon.

An aerial search team spotted the wreckage Thursday afternoon on a wooded mountainside near the East Fork of the Toklat River. A search plane then landed on a gravel river bar a half mile below the crash site, Fister said.

A trooper hiked to the wreckage and found the burned plane as well as human remains inside. The Associated Press initially reported two people had died.

Rangers kept searching the area for signs that anyone could have survived, Moore said. The effort was still under way when searchers learned the pilot indeed survived.

"For all the people involved in this search, there is some good news mixed with the bad," he said. "We're very pleased that he's been found alive."

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the park Friday to begin looking into the cause of the crash. The NTSB will interview McGregor when they can, Fister said.

A flight plan indicated Haber and McGregor were looking for wolf packs. Haber, an independent biologist, was a frequent visitor to Denali and for years pushed for greater protections for the wolves when they venture outside park boundaries where they can be trapped and hunted.

The 6-million-acre park has about 100 wolves and more than a dozen wolf packs.

Hi Chickenair,

Thanks for the post. I don't think you guys quite got your due in the media...as you say the find was quite astounding considering the size of the search area.

I'm constrained from saying much other than what is already in the press releases and in the media. They do a better job than I do of writing anyway. I will say that I was misquoted a couple of times, but I've come to expect nothing less unfortunately, and since what I supposedly said was probably true anyway I'm not going to make much of it.

This is the best article so far which captures the whole thing beginning to end, IMHO: http://www.webcitation.org/5kbKDKdEJ

Anyway, please thank all of your guys. It is the volunteer resources in the state that make all the difference in these type of situations.

once&futr_alaskaflyer wrote:Hi Chickenair,

Thanks for the post. I don't think you guys quite got your due in the media...as you say the find was quite astounding considering the size of the search area.

I'm constrained from saying much other than what is already in the press releases and in the media. They do a better job than I do of writing anyway. I will say that I was misquoted a couple of times, but I've come to expect nothing less unfortunately, and since what I supposedly said was probably true anyway I'm not going to make much of it.

This is the best article so far which captures the whole thing beginning to end, IMHO: http://www.webcitation.org/5kbKDKdEJ

Anyway, please thank all of your guys. It is the volunteer resources in the state that make all the difference in these type of situations.

Our own Once&Future is being modest- I believe that he was acting as Denali's Chief Ranger during this episode, in his boss's absence. Everything I saw tells me that we each would want him on the job if it was us that had gone down. Kudos to him and his colleagues for the professional, safe, expedient response by NPS.

I also want to second his praise for CAP. Great job, all. Thanks for what you do.

Both pilot and passenger are well-known and highly-regarded by many around here. Dan is being written up quite a lot as a hero, and I don't want to downplay that, but to me it is just Dan being Dan. S**t happens, and suddenly your circumstances change. It's how you then respond that says a lot about you. I am immensely relieved that Dan is ok, but hardly surprised at how he took matters in hand, took responsibility for his own rescue, and found the physical and mental fortitude to pull it off. He's a heck of a guy, and I'm proud to know him and overwhelmed with gratitude that he is still among us.

-DP

This could be a case study on survival factors including strategy and equipment. You don't need me to elaborate on the details, they are all there (pretty much) in the news reports. Take the time to think about it

Great report - thanks!

Any news about whether an ELT (either 121.5 or 406) was involved?

once&futr_alaskaflyer wrote:This could be a case study on survival factors including strategy and equipment. You don't need me to elaborate on the details, they are all there (pretty much) in the news reports. Take the time to think about it

I appreciate where you're going with this. However, I would ask others to respectfully not let this turn into attacking or second-guessing any actions or decisions by the pilot and passenger. From what I know, this could have been any one of us, and then it would be you or me that would now have to live with it. So with that in mind please keep it constructive. Or, as O&F says, it may be sufficient just to take the time to think about it.

-DP

Link: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

"Super Dan" McGregor, the pilot of the airplane that crashed last week in Denali National Park, surprised even friends confident in his survival abilities by walking out of the park two days after the crash, with help from two campers. "The fact that he pulled this off, being able to walk that far, with injuries he had is absolutely astonishing," said his boss, RD Rosso, owner of Denali Air. Greg LaHaie, owner of Kantishna Air and a former boss of McGregor, said the pilot was more serious about safety and survival than most and said he's anxious to find out firsthand what happened."

I had always heard that it's better to stay with the plane. Why did Dan leave and go out on his own? (I'm not criticising or second-guessing - I would like to know in case this ever happens to me).

ASW.

denalipilot wrote:

once&futr_alaskaflyer wrote:This could be a case study on survival factors including strategy and equipment. You don't need me to elaborate on the details, they are all there (pretty much) in the news reports. Take the time to think about it

I appreciate where you're going with this. However, I would ask others to respectfully not let this turn into attacking or second-guessing any actions or decisions by the pilot and passenger. From what I know, this could have been any one of us, and then it would be you or me that would now have to live with it. So with that in mind please keep it constructive. Or, as O&F says, it may be sufficient just to take the time to think about it.

-DP

Nope, not my intention at all. Instead of focusing on what he chose to do, it is useful instead to imagine oneself in similar circumstances, whether it be in Alaska or some semi-remote National Forest in <name your state here> and plan what you would do. My initial thought is that this is one of those cases where egress had to be immediate and it dovetails with previous discussion in these forums as to what to carry, etc.

If I get out of the plane I will deploy my 406 PLB and stay put.

I am disappointed that pilots continue to fly around without a 406 PLB or a FREE! SPOT in there pocket.

We need to remember, the people who come looking are risking their lives.

We also have loved ones who are left wondering and hurting.

IMO we owe it to family and SAR to do our part.

Cheers...Rob

You Search & Rescue folks did a heck of a job! I don't care what the pilot who found the wreckage says; he deserves all the credit we can give him for spotting the crash site in that kind of terrain.

It's got to be really hairy emotionally, flying that kind of a mission, hoping you don't find a worse case scenario. I'm sure sometimes the pilots who fly these missions personally know or at least know OF the downed pilot they're looking for.

Nobody really wants to be the one to find them unless they can spot them waving. Unfortunately, what they often find is bad and no-one wants to be the guy reporting a tragedy!

you alaskan pilots did a hell of a job...! i distinctly remember a few years ago when a couple left jc for big ck, turned left too soon and spun a 172 into the hillside...days went by, when they were finally spotted by one of mccalls finest...to spot them in the alaskan wilderness was amazing...like rob said, at least have a spot with you, as u never really know when u might have to plant it somewhere...had the couple just out of yellowpine had one, they would both be alive, rather that just one....

once&futr_alaskaflyer wrote:This could be a case study on survival factors including strategy and equipment. You don't need me to elaborate on the details, they are all there (pretty much) in the news reports. Take the time to think about it

What did he carry in the plane as a survival kit?

Someone gave me this book years ago. It's been a while since I read it, but I remember it being quite thoughtful and well-presented. The author examines several real-life survival situations, and draws conclusions about what helped or hurt the individuals in question. His conclusion is pretty-much in step with my own feeling, which is that gear is great, and occasionally crucial, but attitude can have an even greater influence over the outcome. His points are summarized on his website, which is http://www.deepsurvival.com/ You can read the gist of it here: http://home.comcast.net/~laurencegonzales/ds/rules.html

-DP

Amazing! Reading "The 12 Rules For Survival" it almost seems as though they can apply to everyday life here in the U.S. Not trying to be funny but if you're having challenges in your life all of these rules seem like they apply.

In my younger days and early in my career I flew a lot of hours tracking radio collars on elk and bears. I am sure the technology has not changed much since then. As you zero in on the radio collar you will eventually have it localized to one side of the aircraft and then you start turning in ever samller and steeper circles until you have the wing tip pointed at the animal. The Biologists will want to get a visual and usually a count of the other animals with the radioed animal. You will not be real low, but not high, usually below 700 feet and with speed appropraite for viewing, but the biologists at times want lower and slower for better identifacation. As the pilot, you are looking for the animal so you can keep it in the center of your steep circle and also flying. There are not many wall eyed pilots, so it is a delicate juggling job to do both and very dangerous. While I was doing this we wrecked two aircraft, one in a controlled crash into a clearcut and the other shredded through some tree tops, but that one made it back to the airport. Luckily, no loss of life. The variables of wind, terrain, and moving animals make for interesting times. This is a case of a pilot enjoying a great job, doing what we all love and having something upset a delicate balancing act. As I read the account, I can still remember vividly flying turns about an elk and having some near experiences like the 185 accident. My heart goes out to all involved. If he ever wants to talk about it, I would like to hear about his trek out.

I to would like to know what survival gear he carried, although it doesn't sound like he needed much. He knew where he was and where he had to go and had it been much futher, I'm sure he would have stayed put. I'm sure Dan knew his capabilities as far as getting out of there. Like the guys said previously who know him, he's tough!
I carry enough to survive for 2 days (MRE'S) without killing any critters as long as it don't burn up! After that squirrels beware! And I have a Spot and a 406mhz elt.
If anyone talks to Dan after he recovers, please post what he had to say about the accident.