Searchers Rescue Pilot After His Plane Went Down

ANCHORAGE - Alaska National Guard authorities say the pilot of an aircraft overdue for nearly a day has been rescued from a lake west of Cook Inlet, where his plane was found Thursday afternoon.

Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska chief, said he was told by the 11th Air Force's Rescue Coordination Center that the pilot of the missing Cessna 180 was found at the crash site on Chakachamna Lake, on the west side of Cook Inlet.

Cessna 180 (image from es.wikipedia.org)

 

"They found the plane -- it's partially broken through the ice," Johnson said. "He's on the way to Central Peninsula Hospital, but my word is no injuries."

According to Alaska National Guard spokeswoman Kalei Rupp, the aircraft was located shortly before noon Thursday, during a search that included half a dozen Civil Air Patrol aircraft from four CAP squadrons.