182 Crash at Rainy Pass, Alaska - 3 dead

[EDMO 1078]

Any news coming on this?

ED in MO

[akflyer 1427]

I just saw the report last night... Looks like CFIT. If the weather is shitty in the pass, DONT FN FLY INTO IT!!!! It only took me one good holy shit to figure out that I dont like flying 0-0 in mountain passes... It tends to shorten ones life expectancy drastically.

[akflyer 1427]

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130305/three-dead-plane-crash-near-rainy-pass

My question is... if the cub pilot that did make it through was getting his ass kicked that bad by the winds, why the fn bad word did he #1 continue on and #2 RETURNED IN THE SAME CONDITIONS? He could have stayed in a warm lodge several places along his route versus banging his helmet on the tubing over his head and taking a chance on folding the wings inflight..

I had a flight to the lodge a couple months ago that took almost 4 hrs.. normal flight time is 1.25 hrs yeah, I had one hell of a head wind, but it was not in mountain passes, and it only got rough as I crossed the hills behind sleeping lady and went over the ridge line (yeah, that was a good ride and I am damn glad the lil lady next to me was sleeping or she would have redecorated the interior).

[SuberAvid 617]

I just got back tonight after spending 3 days and 2 nights at Rainy Pass Lodge due to weather and a broken push/pull cable on my plane. A buddy (in his Cub) and I went to Nicoli and then on to McGrath on the 5th; we looked at Rainy Pass but it looked pretty murkey so we chose to take Ptarmigan Pass and it was pretty wide open and only moderately bumpy. Coming out the Kuskokim we had a 30 mph tail wind but not as turbulent as I was expecting in those mountains. We spent the day (Wed the 6th) in McGrath in heavy snow and right at 4:00 it eased enough that they lifted the special VFR so we hurried and launched for home since the winds were forecast for 70 gusting 90 in Anchorage by Thursday. By about 20 miles out of McGrath heading East the snow /clouds broke and we were in beautiful sunshine. We were down to 50 in places once we got into the Kuskokim valley bucking that headwind but still not as turbulent as I expected we would see. At least I never hit my head and only had to hang on to the overhead tubing a couple of times. We decided against Rainy pass again and chose Ptarmigan. Once we got through the pass and on to the east side of the range going down Ptarmigan valley things started to cloud up. When we turned the corner to head down Happy River the clouds were at all levels almost obscuring the valley. I could still see the far side of the valley through a hole and John was a bit lower and had to climb to my altitude to see through. We knew we were within about a mile of Puntilla Lake and we got an opening we could just see the lake as we were debating turning around. We dropped in over the lake and there was a solid wall of fog at the east end of the lake. We decided that was it and I got a windshield covered with ice fog as I was making my turn to land. It was definately a welcome site or we would have spent the last 3 days in a tent up in the Ptarmigan Valley instead of at the lodge. We heard about the 182 crash when we got to the lodge; man that is sad, that emphasises that we really need to respect those mountains; the pilot was a pretty experienced pilot too. It sounds like he took a wrong turn at Simms? Valley, the one before Rainy pass. It would be very easy to go into the wrong valley if you didn't know it well. they are both pretty darn narrow. I was happy to have John leading and glad he chose Ptarmigan that was wide open versus Rainy that was pretty cloudy. It adds about 40 miles but well worth it in my opinion versus risking it in those clouds. When we were talking on the radio comming into Puntilla Lake Rainy Pass Lodge called us and suggested we were welcome to land. Those poor folks had to get the pilot and passenger out of the 170 that crashed in the earlier post and keep those guys alive until and ANG could arrive; and then this 182. I think all these crashes have been pretty hard on them plus they knew the guys in the 170. We were stuck at Rainy Pass Lodge (a very nice place to be stuck and a wonderful family that ownes and operates the Lodge) when the storm hit with snow, clouds, high winds, and the resultant broken cable on my airplane. Regal Air came in and out on the 7th on their 206 (attached pic) but it was totaly unfliable conditions for me with Vis down to less than a mile most of the time and about 30 to 40 mph winds on the ground creating a ground blizzard most of the time, and it pounded us all night and the next day. I will post pictures of the trip on a separate post.

Edited 10 Mar 2013 by SuberAvid

[EDMO 1078]

Wishing I was there - really miss the fun of the I-trod - and the Ak flying.

ED in MO