Two passengers critically injured when PenAir plane flying from Anchorage crashes at Unalaska airport

[Guest]

Two passengers critically injured when PenAir plane flying from Anchorage crashes at Unalaska airport

•  Author: Associated Press and Anchorage Daily News staff
•  
•  Updated: 2 hours ago
•  
•  Published 15 hours ago

A Penair plane that flew from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, pictured off the runway at the Unalaska-Dutch Harbor airport on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. (Jennifer Wynn)

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated. Read about the latest developments here.

A commuter airplane carrying 42 people, including a high school swim team, to a remote Aleutian Islands fishing community went off the runway and came to a rest just short of the Bering Sea. Two passengers suffered critical injuries and 10 more were receiving medical care, the plane’s operator said.

The swim team was fine after the incident late Thursday afternoon at the airport in Unalaska, which is home to Dutch Harbor, one of the nation's busiest fishing ports, officials said.

The SAAB-Scania 2000 twin engine turboprop plane operated by Peninsula Airways, or PenAir, went off the end of the runway under unknown circumstances, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said in an email to The Associated Press.

He said local authorities reported three crew members on board in addition to 38 passengers, but the airline said in a statement that 39 passengers were on board.

Unalaska was buffeted by high winds when the plane made its landing, said Jim Paulin, a freelance photographer in Unalaska.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday in a statement on Twitter that it was sending a team of nine investigators to Unalaska to start the process of determining why the plane overran the runway. PenAir, which is owned by Ravn Air Group, said it is cooperating with the NTSB and had established a family assistance line.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our passengers and crew, and the family members of everyone with loved ones on this flight,” said PenAir CEO Dave Pflieger.

 

1 passenger dead in Unalaska crash of PenAir plane flying from Anchorage that injured 10 others

•  Author: Zaz Hollander
   
•  
•  Updated: 1 hour ago
•  
•  Published 2 hours ago

A Penair plane that flew from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, pictured off the runway at the Unalaska-Dutch Harbor airport on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. (Jennifer Wynn)

 

A 38-year-old man from Washington state died when a PenAir plane went off the end of the runway Thursday afternoon at Unalaska’s airport, officials say.

David Allan Oltman died of “traumatic injuries suffered in the crash,” according to updates Friday morning from Unalaska officials and Alaska State Troopers. Another critically injured passenger was flown to Anchorage. Nine others were also hurt, according to the city’s Department of Public Safety. Responders had to extricate one patient and evacuated the others.

The Alaska Airlines flight carrying 42 people was operated by Peninsula Airways, or PenAir. Cordova’s high school swim team was on the plane, which left Anchorage at 3:15 p.m.

Oltman died Thursday night, according to a statement from RavnAir Group, which owns PenAir. RavnAir president Dave Pflieger extended “deepest sympathies and condolences” to his family and loved ones.

“Our entire team is devastated by this tragic incident,” Pflieger said.

Authorities say it’s not yet clear what happened to cause the SAAB-Scania 2000 twin-engine turboprop plane to go off the end of the runway, coming to a stop just short of the water with its nose hanging over an embankment. The airport is notoriously challenging due to topography and winds.

 

The plane crashed at around 5:45 p.m. after a missed approach on the first attempt to land, according to preliminary information from Clint Johnson, Alaska chief for the National Transportation Safety Board.

“The accident happened on the second landing attempt," Johnson said.

Local officials said the swim team members were all unhurt, but the mother of one said a piece of metal was embedded in his leg and the person next to him suffered a broken leg, according to a report in The Cordova Times.

Her 16-year-old son is staying in Unalaska until Sunday, when he’s supposed to fly to Anchorage, Lisa Carroll said. She and his father will meet him at the airport and he’ll get the piece of metal removed from the soft tissue of his leg Monday.

“He’s fine but shaken,” Carroll wrote in an email Friday. “I’m just thankful for all the emergency responders and citizens of Unalaska who responded to the scene ... As a parent I am shaken, but again God is good and I’m glad there were boots on the ground taking care of all the injured. My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved.”

 

The Unalaska Fire Department arrived about five minutes after the crash and transported seven patients to the Iliuliuk Clinic and four others were brought to the clinic by personal vehicle, according to the public safety update. Injuries ranged from minor to critical.

A major investigations team of eight or nine people from the NTSB was expected to leave Washington, D.C., for Anchorage on Friday morning. Some members will continue to Dutch Harbor on Saturday. The investigation is being run from the agency’s headquarters because it involves a commuter air carrier and someone died in the crash, Johnson said. An Anchorage-based investigator is on the team, which also includes experts in airworthiness and operations as well as John Lovell, the the investigator in charge.

The runway is shut down until further notice, local officials say. Law enforcement has secured the scene pending the arrival of the federal investigators. The plane may still pose safety risks so officials are asking the public is asked to stay away from the area.

PenAir and Ravn are fully cooperating with the NTSB, according to a statement sent through a public-relations firm representing the airline. PenAir and Ravn have established a family assistance line at 1-800-757-4784.

[Guest]

Looks like the prop penetratedthe cabin on the left side. https://abcnews.go.com/US/high-school-swim-team-members-shaken-safe-plane/story?id=66363658

Passenger dies from Alaska plane crash

• By
• MARC NATHANSON
• andEMILY SHAPIRO

Oct 18, 2019, 2:21 PM ET

Ryan Burnias

WATCHAlaska Airlines flight overshoots runway

A passenger has died after a twin-engine Peninsula Airways flight crashed Thursday night, officials said.

Alaska Airlines Flight 3296, operated by Peninsula Airways, ran off the runway while landing at Alaska's Unalaska/Dutch Harbor Airport, airline officials said, and stopped just short of plunging into the waters of the bay.

Passenger David Allan Oltman, 38, of Washington state, died as a result, Alaska State Troopers said on Friday.

Ryan Burnias

Alaska Airlines Flight 3296, operated by Peninsula Airways, sits at the edge of Unalaska Bay after running off the runway while landing at Unalaska/Dutch Harbor Airport, Oct. 17, 2019.more +

This is the first U.S. commercial plane passenger death since a passenger died in a Southwest incident last year.

 

A statement from Peninsula Airways on Friday said: "It is with our deepest sorrow that we have confirmed that one of our critically injured passengers from PenAir Flight 3296 passed away last night."

"Our entire team is devastated by this tragic incident," the statement said. "The thoughts of all 1,300 of our employees are with those who were hurt or affected."

Another passenger was critically injured, and 10 others received medical care, according to Peninsula Airways.

(MORE: Quick-thinking crew member stops runaway cart from striking airplane on tarmac)

The flight was from Anchorage to Unalaska Island.

The plane, a Saab 2000 turboprop, had three crew members and 39 passengers aboard, including members of the swim team at Alaska's Cordova High School.

Ryan Burnias

Alaska Airlines Flight 3296, operated by Peninsula Airways, sits at the edge of Unalaska Bay after running off the runway while landing at Unalaska/Dutch Harbor Airport, Oct. 18, 2019.more +

"At present, all students and chaperones are accounted for and are OK, albeit a bit shaken up," read a statement posted by superintendent Alex Russin on the school district's website Thursday night.

The statement said that "the team was together, seemed fine, and were eating pizza."

(MORE: Searchers find possible crash site of private plane that vanished without a trace)

Photos taken afterward showed the plane resting at about at 30-degree angle on a rocky embankment, with its nose just feet from the water.

Courtesy Jesse Ortiz

A commuter plane that crashed near the airport in a small town near the Bering Sea, Oct. 17, 2019. The Peninsula Airways flight from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor came to a halt just short of the water.more +

Freelance photographer Jim Paulin, who witnessed the accident, told the Associated Press that the plane appeared to have been forced beyond its planned landing area by high winds that the area had been experiencing lately.

Unalaska Island is part of the Aleutian Island chain to the west of the Alaskan mainland.

 

[Tango Foxtrot]

I agree Marshall Looks like a prop blade went through the fuselage. 

[J.O.]

I was thinking the same thing Tony. Otherwise it looks like a survivable accident.

[Kip Powick]

me too (prop)

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Tango Foxtrot said:

Looks like a prop blade went through the fuselage. 

 

 

As I said earlier.

[Kip Powick]

Landed downwind on a relatively short,  wet runway with tailwind gusting over 20kts..........not good idea but perhaps there was a reason....but I really can't think of one.

[Don Hudson]

Very sad....survivable but for the prop/blade. Rare, but loss of a blade does occur.

Some details:

 METAR/SPECI from PADU, Unalaska, Unalaska Airport (United States). SA     18/10/2019 00:56->     

METAR PADU 180056Z 31011KT 10SM FEW034 BKN047 BKN060 07/01
           A2950 RMK AO2 SLP995 T00720011=

SA     17/10/2019 23:56->     

METAR PADU 172356Z 31006KT 10SM BKN036 BKN044 07/01 A2951
           RMK AO2 RAB12E25 SLP999 P0000 60000 T00670011
           10083 20056 53005=

No short TAF reports from PADU during solicited interval in the database.

large TAF from PADU, Unalaska, Unalaska Airport (United States). FT     17/10/2019 23:39->     

TAF PADU 172339Z 1800/1824 28008G20KT P6SM -SHRA SCT035 BKN050
          FM181900 20006G15KT P6SM -SHRA SCT025=

g