Rugged, steep terrain around crash site too risky, park rangers say; investigation into crash cause continues
Denali National Park and Preserve rangers have decided it’s too dangerous to recover the bodies of the pilot and passenger of a small airplane that crashed last week in a remote and mountainous area of the park. Meanwhile, an investigation into the crash continues.
Denali Park rangers have flown five times over the area in the southwest corner of the park where the Piper PA-18 Super Cub went down last Wednesday searching for a way to get to the crash site.
“But the conditions of the ravine being so narrow and so steep, we haven’t found a way to get our staff down in their in a safe way for any kind of recovery at this time,” says Sharon Stiteler, a park spokesperson.
Stiteler says the rangers have checked out other possible ways to get into the steep canyon off the west fork of the Yentna River. But they came to the same conclusion.
“Our rangers did go out to ground-truth the site,” she said, “and they did go look at rappelling down. But there’s just too much of a rockfall hazard with the way that ravine is situated.”
Stiteler said Monday they also ruled out using devices called a hook and a grabber that can be lowered from a helicopter, but they was also found to be too dangerous. She says park officials haven’t ruled-out trying to reach the crash site by some other means, if it can be done safely.
“Our rangers are going to look at every possible option,” she said. “But, y’know, this is wilderness …”
One possibility is hiking into the site after the river freezes, but Stiteler said winter operations bring their own risks, mainly involving inclement weather. So, for now, the recovery operation is on hold. She emphasizes that it wasn’t an easy decision.
“These sorts of incidents hit hard with all of our staff,” she said. “We want to do our best for the people and the families that visit our park. We understand how important this is, and we have a lot of empathy. We really do try our best.”
National Transportation Safety Board investigators looking into the cause of the crash also expressed condolences.
“We’re saddened to hear that the National Park Service was not able to recover the two victims here,” says Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska Region. “However, we definitely support their decision on that. Obviously, where this accident was was a very, very precarious, very challenging area.”
Johnson said Monday the NTSB’s investigation into the crash will continue. But he says the lack of access to the site is making it more difficult.
“Obviously,” he said, “it’s a challenge, as far as not being able to lay hands on the wreckage itself.”
Johnson says investigators were able to fly into the ravine with a drone, and take photos of the wreckage, including some close-ups. And he says they’re analyzing other kinds of data to develop some explanations on why the Super Cub went down.
“There’s still a lot of information that we can glean, as far as weather conditions in the area, witness accounts …”
Johnson says NTSB intends to release a preliminary report by the end of this week or early next, and a final report in about a year.
