The engine of a small plane failed on Oct. 7 near Petersburg with two occupants on board. The pilot emergency landed on a remote road on northern Kupreanof Island.
But the plane — a Cessna 172 wheeled general aircraft, with small tires — hit a rock when landing and flipped over in the muskeg; both occupants were able to get out and walk away uninjured. That’s according to two people from Petersburg’s volunteer fire department, the pilot from Petersburg who picked them up from Kupreanof, and another pilot who transported them to Wrangell, where the plane was based out of.
“I suspect it was, you know, pretty bouncy. It wasn’t a runway as such,” said David Berg, a spokesperson for Petersburg’s volunteer fire department. “The plane went off the road … and the two occupants … were able to get out of the aircraft and walk away.”
Berg said first responders in Petersburg were waiting on standby, but their assistance wasn’t needed.
Wally O’Brocta, a pilot out of Petersburg with TEMSCO, said he was alerted by Wrangell Search and Rescue that the plane had landed, and that it “didn’t work out so well, but they had no injuries.” He noted the landing “most likely would have been fine if that rock wasn’t in the road.”
O’Brocta picked the two occupants up from the scene by helicopter and brought them to Petersburg. They were subsequently flown to Wrangell with Michael Lane of Sunrise Aviation. O’Brocta said the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the plane’s SOS but arrived as he was taking off with the occupants.
The plane was still on Kupreanof Island as of the following morning. KFSK was unable to reach the pilot for comment.
