Sunday 28 July 2013
Fifty years ago, two DC 7s crash in Southeast Alaska eight months apart; Had ...
Saturday 20 July 2013
Team investigating Alaska plane crash struggles with few leads
By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Experts investigating a floatplane crash that killed 10 people in Alaska face a scarcity of information and will rely on skid marks and satellite signals to determine the cause, a federal official said on Tuesday.
No one has claimed to have witnessed the crash on Sunday of the de Havilland-built Otter plane at the airport in the fishing town of Soldotna, 65 miles southwest of Anchorage, said National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener, spokesman for the investigation team.
Investigators face another hurdle because the plane had no flight-data box from which information could be gathered and no surveillance video has been found, Weener said. "It forces us to go back to try to identify ground scars ... how far the impact, where was the debris distributed," he said.
Investigators will reconstruct the last moments before the crash and then identify possible causes or eliminate them, he said.
The crash killed local pilot Walter Rediske, co-owner of an air-taxi service, and members of two families from South Carolina. The plane was bound from the Soldotna airport for a wilderness lodge about 90 miles to the southwest, Weener said. Investigators have said the plane appears to have crashed shortly after take-off.
The crash came a day after an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 with more than 300 people on board crashed while landing at San Francisco's airport, killing two Chinese teenagers and injuring more than 180 people.
Sunday's death toll was the highest Alaska has seen in any plane crash in more than a decade. The NTSB assembled a "go team" of six experts, joined by one Alaska-based NTSB official, to investigate the accident.
So far, Weener said, they have found that the plane hit the ground with its right wing down and nose low, and struck a site just off the paved runway.
Investigators hope to glean some information from satellite signals transmitted from the plane and from the five cellular telephones recovered from the crash site, Weener said.
Despite the lack of flight-data information or witness accounts, NTSB team members believe they will determine what likely happened to the plane and its passengers, Weener said. "I'm quite confident that we will be able to come to what we call a probable cause," he said.
The investigation team is expected to spend about a week at the site in Alaska, then take up to a year to complete a report.
Travel by floatplanes is common in Alaska, where roads are few and territory is vast. Air crashes are also relatively common, especially in the summer, when tourists and residents visit remote recreation sites.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Mohammad Zargham)
Final funeral held for Alaskan plane crash victims
The second family from Greenville killed in a plane crash in Alaska earlier this month is being laid to rest.
The funeral for Dr. Chris McManus, his wife Stacey and their children Meghan and Connor will be 3 p.m. Saturday at Wiles Chapel at Newberry College. The family will be buried at Rosemont Cemetery.
The McManus family was vacationing with Melet and Kimberly Antonakos and their three children, Olivia, Miles and Anastacia, when the plane they were in crashed July 7 in Soldotna, Alaska.
The pilot was also killed. The cause of the plane crash has not been determined.
Funeral in Newberry for 2nd family from Greenville killed in Alaska plane crash
Places:
NEWBERRY, South Carolina - The second family from Greenville killed in a plane crash in Alaska earlier this month is being laid to rest.
The funeral for Dr. Chris McManus, his wife Stacey and their children Meghan and Connor will be 3 p.m. Saturday at Wiles Chapel at Newberry College. The family will be buried at Rosemont Cemetery.
The McManus family was vacationing with Melet and Kimberly Antonakos and their three children, Olivia, Miles and Anastacia, when the plane they were in crashed July 7 in Soldotna, Alaska.
The pilot was also killed. The cause of the plane crash has not been determined.
Thursday 18 July 2013
Wreckage of Alaska plane sent to Phoenix
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Pieces of an air taxi that crashed in Alaska, killing 10, have been sent to Washington D.C. and Phoenix.
The Anchorage Daily News reported the plane parts will be analyzed as National Transportation Safety Board investigators try to determine the cause of the July 7 crash in Soldotna, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage.
National Transportation Safety Board said the plane parts will be analyzed as investigators try to determine the cause of the July 7 crash in Soldotna, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage.
The engine was produced by Honeywell Aerospace, which has headquarters in metro Phoenix.
The de Havilland DHC 3 Otter operated by Rediske Air had just taken off when it went down.
All on board were killed, including the pilot Walter "Willie" Rediske.
The passengers were two South Carolina families on vacation together. They were Melet and Kimberly Antonakos and their children, 16-year-old Olivia, 14-year-old Mills and 11-year-old Anastacia and Chris and Stacey and their children, 17-year-old Meghan and 15-year-old Connor.
Both families lived in Greenville, S.C.
Wreckage of Alaska plane crash sent to Phoenix for analysis
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Pieces of an air taxi that crashed in Alaska, killing 10, have been sent to Washington D.C. and Phoenix.
The Anchorage Daily News reported the plane parts will be analyzed as National Transportation Safety Board investigators try to determine the cause of the July 7 crash in Soldotna, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage.
National Transportation Safety Board said the plane parts will be analyzed as investigators try to determine the cause of the July 7 crash in Soldotna, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage.
The engine was produced by Honeywell Aerospace, which has headquarters in metro Phoenix.
The de Havilland DHC 3 Otter operated by Rediske Air had just taken off when it went down.
All on board were killed, including the pilot Walter "Willie" Rediske.
The passengers were two South Carolina families on vacation together. They were Melet and Kimberly Antonakos and their children, 16-year-old Olivia, 14-year-old Mills and 11-year-old Anastacia and Chris and Stacey and their children, 17-year-old Meghan and 15-year-old Connor.
Both families lived in Greenville, S.C.
Tuesday 16 July 2013
Plane crash in Alaska kills 10
Visitation For Family Killed in Alaska Crash
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - People are taking time to remember one of two Greenville families killed in a plane crash while on vacation in Alaska.
On Tuesday, the Thomas McAfee Funeral Home is holding the visitation for Melet and Kimberly Antonakos and their three children from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at its chapel on White Horse Road in Greenville.
Funeral services for the family are scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville.
The Antonakos family was vacationing with another Christ Church family, Chris and Stacey McManus and their two children, when the plane they were on crashed July 7 while taking off in Soldotna, Alaska.
All nine were killed along with the pilot.
(Copyright 2013 pehlinews.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Monday 15 July 2013
Plane crash at Alaska airport kills 10, officials say
July 7, 2013: Police and emergency personnel stand near the remains of a fixed-wing aircraft that was engulfed in flames at the Soldotna Airport in Soldotna, Alaska.AP Photo/Peninsula Clarion, Rashah McChesney
An air taxi crashed Sunday at a small Alaska airport, killing all 10 people on board and leaving the aircraft fully engulfed in flames before firefighters could get to it, authorities said.
The de Havilland DHC3 Otter air taxi crashed just after 11 a.m. at the airport in Soldotna, a community about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage and located on the Kenai Peninsula.
"We do have 10 fatalities, unfortunately, nine passengers, one pilot," National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson told pehlinews.blogspot.com.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the Otter was operated by Rediske Air, based out of another Kenai Peninsula community, Nikiski.
Will Satathite, who was working Sunday at Rediske Air's Nikiski office, confirmed to the Peninsula Clarion newspaper that the aircraft was flown by Nikiski pilot and company owner Willy Rediske with nine passengers onboard.
A man who didn't identify himself at the Rediske office declined comment later Sunday to the AP, saying the crash was under investigation.
Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Meagan Peters said the aircraft erupted in flames and the fire initially kept firefighters from reaching the wreckage. The victims have not been identified.
The Soldotna Police Department said Sunday evening that the remains of all 10 people have been recovered and sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsies and positive identifications.
Police said in a release through the Alaska State Troopers that weather at the time of the crash was reported to be cloudy with a light wind.
Johnson said initial reports have the plane crashing after departure, but that will have to be confirmed by investigators.
The NTSB is sending an investigative team from Washington, D.C., and they are scheduled to arrive Monday afternoon. Also taking part will be Alaska-based investigator Brice Banning, who was called back from the Asiana crash in San Francisco Sunday.
For many Alaskans, flying across the state is common because of the limited road system, exposing residents to a litany of hazards including treacherous mountain passes and volatile weather. It's possible to drive from Anchorage to Soldotna, but it's about a four-hour trip as the highway hugs Turnagain Arm and then cuts through a mountain passage.
Alaska has already seen a several plane crashes this year, including a June 28 crash that killed a pilot and two passengers on a commercial tour in the Alaska Range. The Soldotna crash comes a day after two teenagers were killed when the Asiana flight crashed at San Francisco's airport.
The municipal airport is located about a mile from Soldotna's commercial business area and is adjacent to the Kenai River, according to the city's website.
The runway is 5,000 foot long and paved.
Friday 12 July 2013
1200 turn out to say goodbye to families killed in Alaska plane crash
1,200 turn out to say goodbye to families killed in Alaska plane crashAbout 1,200 friends, family and fellow parishioners of two families killed in a plane crash in Alaska on Sunday turned out to say goodbye and to try to put the tragedy in perspective of their faith
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1200 mourn families killed in Alaska plane crash
The Rev. Harrison McLeod, of Christ Church, talks about the Antonakos and McManus families after a memorial service at Christ Church in Greenville on Friday, July 12, 2013.
Friends and family mourned the loss of the Antonakos and McManus families of Greenville, S.C., during a memorial service on Friday, July 12, 2013. (Photo: Mykal McEldowney, Greenville (S.C.) News)
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- About 1,200 friends, family and fellow parishioners of two families killed in a plane crash in Alaska turned out Friday to say goodbye and to try to put the tragedy in perspective of their faith.
The Rev. Harrison McLeod, rector of the Christ Church Episcopal in downtown Greenville, reminded the mourners of God's faithfulness as portrayed through the stories of the Bible.
"But we gather here this morning and we hear the story of God's mighty works in salvation history and we hear the names of those we love but see no longer, and we ask in our own generation that ancient question: 'Can God be trusted?'"
Like the rainbow after the flood in Noah's time, the manna sent to feed the Israelites fleeing from bondage in Egypt and the Resurrection of Christ, the lives of the nine, McLeod said, "were a sure and certain sign and a symbol, a sacrament that God would never grieve or afflict his children."
Melet and Kim Antonakos and their children Olivia, Mills and Ana, were killed along with Chris and Stacey McManus and their children, Meghan and Connor, in the crash Sunday while on a vacation trip together, but the rector assured the congregation that they still live.
Authorities have not determined the cause of the crash.
The nine "called us to be the very people God created us to be," McLeod said. "They loved the God who loved them and by their love and by their lives they themselves have reassured us, even in the midst of our grief, that the answer to the question we have all be asking is yes."
"Even in the midst of the burden of grief, our loved ones look down upon us this very day and as living witnesses tell us from their place in paradise that indeed it is true, our God can be trusted."
The church bell tolled nine times.
Investigators search Alaska plane crash scene for clues
Investigators search Alaska plane crash scene for cluesAs classmates, co-workers and friends of two families killed in a plane crash in Alaska held memorial services for them Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said investigators moved
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Thursday 11 July 2013
Victims of Alaskan plane crash were close
The five members of the Antonakos family and the four members of the McManus family died Sunday with their pilot in a fiery crash of a plane shortly after takeoff from an airport about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage. It was to be the last leg of a long-awaited vacation. All 10 aboard the de Havilland DH3 Otter were killed.
Milton Antonakos, called Melet by most everyone, met Chris McManus just as they were beginning their families. Their families attended the same church and spent leisure time together on a South Carolina lake. Their oldest daughters and only sons were about the same age, so it was almost a perfect match.
Chris McManus was a smart, compassionate radiologist, according to his boss. Friends said McManus' wife Stacey loved teaching Vacation Bible School. Their 17-year-old daughter Meghan was looking at colleges and 15-year-old Connor was almost an Eagle in Boy Scouting.
'They basically grew up as brothers and sisters,' said Tyler McDougald, his eyes red after a night of crying from losing one of his best friends. He grew up with Connor McManus.
Friends said Melet Antonakos sold computer software to doctors. His wife Kim was always volunteering at her children's school. Their 16-year-old daughter Olivia was top in her class; 14-year-old Miles was elected class president and 11-year-old Anastacia, usually sporting a big bow in her hair, made friends with everyone.
Both families were longtime members of Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville, leaving the Rev. Harrison McLeod searching for words to comfort his congregation.
'This isn't just a huge loss for us. It is a huge loss for the community. These were good people, some of the best people you would want to know,' McLeod said
The families were booked on a flight leaving Soldotna, Alaska, to visit a remote bear-viewing lodge in Chinitna Bay.
The plane, which seats up to 11, crashed and burned on takeoff at the small Soldotna airport, landing more than 2,300 feet from the departure point and 88 feet off the right side of the runway, National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener said Tuesday at a news briefing in Anchorage.
There is no surveillance footage of the crash and no one has come forward who witnessed the accident at the airport, which does not have a control tower, authorities said. As with many small airports, pilots follow standard practices such as communicating with each other.
It took firefighters 10 minutes to put out the flames.
Soldotna police have not released the names of the victims, pending positive identifications from the state medical examiner's office. But word spread quickly through Greenville as authorities called South Carolina counterparts, seeking dental records and other information.
The pilot of the downed plane was Walter 'Willie' Rediske of Nikiski, Alaska, according to Rediske Air, which operated the aircraft.
The NTSB sent a team to Alaska. The investigators recovered five cellphones from the wreckage, which will be analyzed for any pertinent information to better understand what happened in the final moments, Weener said. Investigators also hope to learn more from a flight tracking device in the plane that could upload such information as altitude and speed through satellite.
It was the ninth fatal crash in Alaska involving a de Havilland Otter since 1975, including one that crashed in 2010, killing former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others, according to an NTSB database. Sunday's crash brings the total deaths from those crashes to 30.
The Alaska trip was the second big adventure vacation for the families.
Two years earlier, friends said, they visited Yellowstone National Park and had a great time. They were eager for a second trip because they had grown so close, said Tyree Byrd, who lives across the street from Melet Antonakos.
'There are families you like to be around,' Byrd said, calling them 'great people.'
As Byrd spoke, friends and neighbors talked about divvying up such heartbreaking tasks as caring for a pet cat and cleaning out one family's refrigerator.
Melet Antonakos was a Clemson University graduate who attended all the school's football games. He also coached basketball at church. All of his children and all the McManus children played for him at one time.
'I'm going to miss calling them on the phone and getting advice,' said friend Katherine Daniels. 'I have kids in middle school, and they knew just what to do. They were so wise.'
The McManus family was gentle and caring, a trait friends said came both from Chris and Stacey McManus.
Chris McManus worked as a radiologist for Greenville Health System for 14 years. Full of joy, he was one of the most competent, compassionate doctors around and a 'true physician in every sense of the word,' said his supervisor, Radiology Department Chairman C. David Williams III.
Stacey McManus kept teaching Vacation Bible School at Christ Church, even though her children had grown too old to attend, said McLeod, the church's rector.
This is the latest tragedy for his church and its 4,000 members. On June 28, a longtime church member died in a small plane crash in Summit Lake, Alaska. On June 9, two other members died from carbon monoxide poisoning after accidentally turning on their car with a keyless starter, authorities said.
McLeod pauses when asked what he'll tell grieving church members.
'It is a reminder to all of us that life is fragile and life is a gift from God,' he said, adding 'we believe with every fiber of our being that they are in heaven and we will be reunited again one day.'
Rachel D'Oro contributed to this report from Anchorage, Alaska.
Copyright 2013 pehlinews.blogspot.com.
Two families killed in plane crash on Alaska vacation were beloved back home
Peninsula Clarion via Reuters
Federal investigators said Tuesday it would take at least a week to figure out why a small plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Alaska, killing the pilot and nine members of two close-knit South Carolina families.
The plane, a de Havilland DH3 Otter, crashed Sunday as it was leaving the airport in Soldotna, about 70 miles southwest of Anchorage. The families were on the last leg of their 10-day Alaskan vacation, headed for a bear-viewing lodge in Chinitna Bay.
At a briefing for reporters Tuesday, Earl Weener, the National Transportation Safety Board member leading the investigation, offered little information, saying his team wouldn't 'speculate or offer analysis until we gather all the facts.'
He did reveal that evidence indicated that the plane's right wing and nose slammed into the ground first. He also said five cellphones had been recovered from the scene and would be analyzed for any useful data.
It was also revealed Tuesday that killed were two entire families from Greenville, S.C.: Melet and Kimberly Antonakos and their children, Mills, Anna and Olivia; and Chris and Stacey McManus and their children, Meghan and Conner. The 10th victim was the pilot, Willie Rediske, 42, co-owner of Rediske Air.
Friends and colleagues said the Antonakoses and the McManuses were model families - high-achieving, active in the same church and loved by many in the community.
The Antonakos children were all members of the same swim team in Greenville, which held a prayer vigil for the family Tuesday night, NBC affiliate WYFF of Greenville reported.
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Melet Antonakos worked in medical-related sales, while Kim Antonakos 'dedicated herself to the community,' said Joel Norwood, a family friend.
'They has such a strong marriage,' he said. 'It's been over 20 years, and they were committed to each other. They raised three spectacular kids.'
Charles Mayfield, principal of J.L. Mann High School, told the station that Olivia Antonakos, a rising junior, had been No. 1 in her class and was a member of the basketball team and the student council.
Ana Antonakos was about to start school at Beck Academy after having made the 'All-A' honor roll at Sara Collins Elementary School, Mayfield said.
Mills Antonakos had just graduated from Beck Academy, where he was student body president, and was a rising freshman at J.L. Mann, Norwood said.
Meghan and Connor McManus attended Christ Church Episcopal School, where they got stellar grades and were active in prayer groups and other school activities, Richard Grimball, the school's senior chaplain, told WYFF.
Their mother, Stacey, was about to become head of the Altar Guild, Grimball said. Their father, Chris, was a radiologist with Greenville Health System.
David Williams, chairman of the company's radiology department, called Chris McManus 'an extraordinary physician' who was 'known to be both compassionate and conscientious.'
'Dr. McManus was one of those stellar individuals who was a physician in every sense of the word,' Williams told WYFF before breaking down in tears.
'Like everyone else, I'e got a thousand questions,' said Grimball, the school chaplain. 'I don't know how to describe it - to be here and now you are gone, an entire family.'
'I don't think you ever heal. I don't think you ever heal,' he said.
Deaths of two families in plane crash shock South Carolina town
(CNN) -- The stunning news has been spreading through the city of Greenville, South Carolina, shaking residents in a way they hadn't felt in recent memory.
Two families -- including five children -- were killed Sunday in a plane crash while vacationing in Soldotna, Alaska, about 65 miles southwest of Anchorage. They were all passengers in a small, single-engine plane that crashed on takeoff into the runway at the town's airport, officials said.
While much of the country focuses on the intensely covered plane crash in San Francisco, many of Greenville's approximately 60,000 resident s have been thinking about Soldotna. The Alaskan town sits thousands of miles away, but this crash feels much closer to home.
'Without a doubt, it's the most devastating tragedy I think we've had to experience since I've been here,' said Scott Sanders, a 21-year Greenville resident. 'Losing two entire families -- it just doesn't happen.'
Greenville was mourning Dr. Chris McManus; his wife, Stacey McManus; and their children, Meghan and Conner, said Johnathan Bragg, a spokesman for the Greenville Police Department. McManus was a radiologist who practiced at a local hospital.
Family killed plane crash 'loved life' 
Alaska plane crash kills 10 
How to survive a plane crashAlso killed aboard the plane were the Antonakos family: Milton 'Melet' Antonakos; his wife, Kimberly Antonakos; and their children Mills, Ana and Olivia, Bragg said. All the children ranged in age from grade school to high school, said Sanders.
Melet Antonakos worked in medical equipment sales while Kimberly Antonakos served as a president of a parent/teacher group, according to The Greenville News.
'You name it, if you needed somebody to volunteer, you called Kim Antonakos and she was there,' State Rep. Bruce Bannister told the newspaper.
Bannister, who lives just down the street from the Antonakos home, told CNN he and Melet Antonakos had become good friends. Melet was Antonakos' traditional family Greek name. 'He was 'Melet' to his friends and 'Milton' to his business associates,' Bannister said. The Bannister family's son was a classmate of 12-year-old Ana.
Now Bannister tells his children the Antonakos family 'got to go to heaven together.'
In light of the San Francisco plane crash, Bannister said that sometimes it's hard to really appreciate the significance tragedies have when they take place far away.
'You hear about a plane crash in California and you're in Greenville, South Carolina, and you think, 'that's a terrible tragedy.' And now you hear about a plane crash and you think about the Antonakoses and how those families connected to the crash out there in California are feeling. You really recognize how huge these tragedies are.'
In fact, both families were 'very involved in their community, very involved in their church and their schools,' said Sanders, who is president of a swimming pool where some of the children went. 'Very few people here have not been touched by this tragedy.'
Christ Church, where both families worshipped, has been especially striken by the news. Sunday school teacher Heather Meadors, who taught the children of both families as toddlers, told The Greenville News she felt 'like there's a big black cloud over Christ Church right now.'
McManus had been named among the nation's best physicians in 2011, according to his hospital website.
'Chris was one of our lead interventional radiologists, who brought a number of new and innovative diagnostic and therapeutic tools to the community,' McManus' colleague, Dr. C. David Williams, told The Greenville News. 'He was an extraordinary physician but also an extraordinary human being who was known to be both compassionate and conscientious.'
The Antonakoses and McManuses were bound for Bear Mountain Lodge off Alaska's Chinitna Bay, about 80 miles southwest of Soldotna, the lodge's co-owner, Mac McGahan, told CNN on Monday.
In addition to the families, the pilot of the plane also died in the crash, authorities said, putting the death toll at 10.
The de Havilland DHC-3 Otter 'struck the runway and burned,' the FAA said, citing local law enforcement officials. By the time firefighters and medics arrived, the aircraft was engulfed, Soldotna police said. The plane was operated by Rediske Air, according to the FAA. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team to the crash site Tuesday and were investigating.
This isn't the first NTSB case for Rediske.
In August 2011, a Rediske Air Cessna got stuck in sand after a sightseeing excursion, the NTSB said, damaging its propeller. The NTSB lists a 2004 incident when a pilot taxiing a Rediske Cessna at an airport in Trading Bay hit a 55-gallon drum of soap, bending the plane's propeller. No one was reported hurt in either incident.
In Greenville, the children's classmates were mourning their loss.
Students from J.L. Mann High School -- where Olivia Antonakos was about to start her junior year -- had flowers delivered to the family's home, The State reported. Classmates also left a guest book for mourners to sign, according to the paper. Olivia's involvement in the school stretched from the school varsity basketball team, to student government. Her classmates had just elected her the student body secretary.
That's five children lost -- whose hopeful promise of a fruitful and productive life will go unfulfilled.
'It's just a loss for the school and for the whole community,' Charles Mayfield, the school's principal, told The State. 'They were just good people. They thought of others before they thought of themselves. To lose the whole family, it's just really shocking.'
For the city as a whole, Bannister said church members, friends and neighbors of the two families will be gathering for prayer and memorials during the coming days.
But the mourning seems more difficult somehow. 'This is especially hard because it's a whole family,' he said. 'There's this void. There's nobody to console, because there's nobody at the Antonakos house. There's nobody to take a casserole to. Everybody wants to do something, but there's nobody to do anything for.'
There's little else to do, Bannister said, except to lean on each other.
This unforgettable tragedy, he said, 'has almost brought us closer together.'
CNN's Aaron Cooper, Meridith Edwards, Rene Marsh, Cristy Lenz and Justin Lear contributed to this report.
Wednesday 10 July 2013
Alaska Plane Crash Investigators Struggle With Few Leads
Experts investigating a floatplane crash that killed 10 people in Alaska face a scarcity of information and will rely on skid marks and satellite signals to determine the cause, an NTSB official said on Tuesday.
No one has claimed to have witnessed the crash on Sunday of the de Havilland Otter at the airport in the fishing town of Soldotna, 65 miles southwest of Anchorage, said National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener, spokesman for the investigation team.
Investigators face another hurdle because the plane had no flight-data recorder from which information could be gathered and no surveillance video has been found, Weener said. 'It forces us to go back to try to identify ground scars... how far the impact, where was the debris distributed,' he said.
Investigators will reconstruct the last moments before the crash and then identify possible causes or eliminate them, he said.
The crash killed local pilot Walter Rediske, co-owner of an air-taxi service, and members of two families from South Carolina. The plane was heading from Soldotna airport for a wilderness lodge about 90 miles to the southwest, Weener said. Investigators have said the plane appears to have crashed shortly after take-off.
The crash came a day after an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 with more than 300 people on board crashed while landing at San Francisco's airport, killing two Chinese teenagers and injuring more than 180 people.
Sunday's death toll was the highest Alaska has seen in any plane crash in more than a decade. The NTSB assembled a 'go team' of six experts, joined by one Alaska-based NTSB official, to investigate the accident.
So far, Weener said, they have found that the plane hit the ground with its right wing down and nose low, and struck a site just off the paved runway.
Investigators hope to glean some information from satellite signals transmitted from the plane and from the five cell phones recovered from the crash site, Weener said.
Despite the lack of flight-data information or witness accounts, NTSB team members believe they will determine what likely happened to the plane and its passengers, Weener said. 'I'm quite confident that we will be able to come to what we call a probable cause,' he said.
The investigation team is expected to spend about a week at the site in Alaska, then take up to a year to complete a report.
Travel by floatplanes is common in Alaska, where roads are few and territory is vast. Air crashes are also relatively common, especially in the summer, when tourists and residents visit remote recreation sites.
(Reuters)
Families killed in Alaska plane crash were flying to see bears
Originally published Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 9:55 AM
SOLDOTNA, Alaska - Two families from Greenville, S.C., on their way to a bear-viewing lodge on the Alaska Peninsula, have been identified as nine of the 10 people killed in the fiery crash of an air taxi taking off from the Soldotna airport Sunday.
The victims were Milton and Kimberly Antonakos and their children, Olivia, 16, Mills, 14, and Anastacia, 11, and Dr. Chris McManus, his wife, Stacey, and their two children, Connor and Meghan.
Nikiski, Alaska, native Walter 'Willie' Rediske, 42, was identified Sunday as the pilot. He also died.
Federal investigators say they are just beginning their investigation to determine what caused the de Havilland DHC3-T Otter to crash and burn feet from the lone runway at the Soldotna Municipal Airport just after 11:20 a.m. local time Sunday, killing all aboard in the worst aviation accident in Alaska in more than a decade.
A National Transportation Safety Board 'Go-Team' was dispatched from Washington, D.C., and arrived in Alaska on Monday. Go-Teams are assigned to investigate major aviation crashes.
After a brief news conference at the Anchorage airport, the federal investigators left for Soldotna to survey the scene of the crash.
Among their first priorities, said NTSB board member Earl Weener, will be to determine whether the plane's turboprop engine was running when the plane crashed. Investigators would also look closely at the weight of what was being carried and how it was distributed on the plane, among other factors.
'Our aim is to determine not just what happened but why it happened,' Weener said.
Walter Rediske had been scheduled to fly guests to Bear Mountain Lodge on Sunday, said lodge owner Mac McGahan.
The bear viewing lodge on the Alaska Peninsula regularly worked with Rediske, as well as other pilots, to ferry guests from the Kenai Peninsula to the remote lodge, he said. The planes used a small landing strip or the beach to land.
As the group prepared to leave Soldotna, the weather was cloudy, with light winds. Just after 11:20 a.m., something went very wrong as the plane took off.
On Monday evening, NTSB investigators touched down in Soldotna and immediately headed to the crash site to look at the wreckage, then briefed reporters at the airport. The airport had been closed since Sunday's crash. It reopened Monday morning.
Much isn't yet known about what caused the crash, Weener said.
The plane was torn apart on impact, he said. Both wings were ripped off and the propeller bent. Much of the aircraft burned. The engine was intact.
Two cellphones were found in the wreckage, Weener said. They'll be analyzed for recordings or photos that could provide clues to the crash. Investigators say there was no voice or data recorder onboard, which aren't required for that type of plane.
Weener said investigators were looking at different ways the pilot could have lost control of the plane.
'We'll look at weather. We'll look at the loading. We'll look at the mechanical performance of the airplane, try to understand what the condition of the flight controls were,' he said.
On Monday, family and friends of the dead mourned the 10 who died: nine on a vacation to see Alaska's beauty, one who grew up surrounded by it.
According to the Columbia, S.C., newspaper, the Antonakos family usually vacationed in Myrtle Beach, S.C., each summer, but the father of Kimberly Antonakos says his daughter and her family decided to travel to Alaska this year
The newspaper said Milton Antonakos sold computer software to hospitals and doctors' offices, while Kimberly shuffled the three children - Olivia, Mills and Anastacia - to their many activities.
The newspaper also reported that McManus, a radiologist, was helping his son Connor to earn the Boy Scouts' rank of Eagle Scout. The couple's daughter Meghan was looking at colleges. Stacey McManus was a board member at the Episcopal church that both families attended, the newspaper said.
Walter Rediske was the son of an electrician who was able to realize his dream of starting an air taxi business ferrying people into Alaska's wilderness.
When his father died in 2001, Rediske and his sister took over Rediske Air, building a business flying tourists, oil field workers and supplies all over the Kenai Peninsula and to the remote western shore of Cook Inlet, according to accounts from friends.
On Monday, the flag at Rediske Air in Nikiski flew at half-staff. A children's wooden play structure stood next to the building, where a few family and friends had gathered.
'There's a lot of grieving going on,' said Andy Harcombe, a pilot and close family friend who is acting as a family and business spokesperson.
Rediske was the 'heart and soul' of the business, Harcombe said. He leaves a wife and three young children - two boys and a girl.
'The Rediske family and all of us here at Rediske Air would like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of all those involved in this tragedy,' he said.
Harcombe said the company is working with the NTSB as the agency investigates.
Rediske Air operates six airplanes including the de Havilland DHC-3 Otter that crashed. The plane, which was only manufactured from 1951 to 1967, is prized by Bush pilots in Alaska who consider it a powerful and reliable workhorse, said Palmer pilot Doug Glenn of Glenn Air.
These days, most Alaska pilots have retrofitted the Otter with a turbine engine, which adds horsepower and increases reliability, Glenn said. Still, they are known as 'squirrely' planes, he said.
'It's easy to stall the thing out,' Glenn said. 'The Otter is a great airplane. But it will bite you.'
There have been 54 crashes of de Havilland Otter planes in Alaska since 1967, according to an NTSB database. Some of those planes had modified engines; some did not. Eight of those crashes - including the 2010 crash in Aleknagik that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens and four other people - were fatal.
Walter Rediske was known as the kind of pilot who could fly an Otter safely, even elegantly, said Jack Barber, the owner of Alaska Air Taxi and a pilot here for more than 50 years.
'He (was) well liked and well respected,' Barber said. 'He had good equipment. It's just a very sad deal for a lot of people today.'
Barber and Glenn said news of the crash had traveled quickly through the world of Alaska Bush pilots.
Glenn said his phone lit up with text messages all night.
Barber was in Seldovia when he learned of the death of his friend and his passengers Sunday night. He had planned to fly home, a quick jaunt up the Kenai Peninsula to Anchorage. But the weather was stormy. He opted to wait until morning.
'I just didn't feel like flying,' he said. 'Maybe for that moment you look at things and say, hey, maybe it's best to sit on the ground and think things through for a while.'
People are already guessing about what caused the crash: mechanical failure, pilot error or something else, Barber said. It bothers him.
If anyone can find out what caused the plane full of 10 people to explode into flames before leaving the airport it will be the NTSB, not speculators, Barber said.
The agency says it expects to release a preliminary report on the crash in 30 days.
Two families killed in plane crash on Alaska vacation were beloved back home
Peninsula Clarion via Reuters
Federal investigators said Tuesday it would take at least a week to figure out why a small plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Alaska, killing the pilot and nine members of two close-knit South Carolina families.
The plane, a de Havilland DH3 Otter, crashed Sunday as it was leaving the airport in Soldotna, about 70 miles southwest of Anchorage. The families were on the last leg of their 10-day Alaskan vacation, headed for a bear-viewing lodge in Chinitna Bay.
At a briefing for reporters Tuesday, Earl Weener, the National Transportation Safety Board member leading the investigation, offered little information, saying his team wouldn't 'speculate or offer analysis until we gather all the facts.'
He did reveal that evidence indicated that the plane's right wing and nose slammed into the ground first. He also said five cellphones had been recovered from the scene and would be analyzed for any useful data.
It was also revealed Tuesday that killed were two entire families from Greenville, S.C.: Melet and Kimberly Antonakos and their children, Mills, Anna and Olivia; and Chris and Stacey McManus and their children, Meghan and Conner. The 10th victim was the pilot, Willie Rediske, 42, co-owner of Rediske Air.
Friends and colleagues said the Antonakoses and the McManuses were model families - high-achieving, active in the same church and loved by many in the community.
The Antonakos children were all members of the same swim team in Greenville, which held a prayer vigil for the family Tuesday night, NBC affiliate WYFF of Greenville reported.
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Melet Antonakos worked in medical-related sales, while Kim Antonakos 'dedicated herself to the community,' said Joel Norwood, a family friend.
'They has such a strong marriage,' he said. 'It's been over 20 years, and they were committed to each other. They raised three spectacular kids.'
Charles Mayfield, principal of J.L. Mann High School, told the station that Olivia Antonakos, a rising junior, had been No. 1 in her class and was a member of the basketball team and the student council.
Ana Antonakos was about to start school at Beck Academy after having made the 'All-A' honor roll at Sara Collins Elementary School, Mayfield said.
Mills Antonakos had just graduated from Beck Academy, where he was student body president, and was a rising freshman at J.L. Mann, Norwood said.
Meghan and Connor McManus attended Christ Church Episcopal School, where they got stellar grades and were active in prayer groups and other school activities, Richard Grimball, the school's senior chaplain, told WYFF.
Their mother, Stacey, was about to become head of the Altar Guild, Grimball said. Their father, Chris, was a radiologist with Greenville Health System.
David Williams, chairman of the company's radiology department, called Chris McManus 'an extraordinary physician' who was 'known to be both compassionate and conscientious.'
'Dr. McManus was one of those stellar individuals who was a physician in every sense of the word,' Williams told WYFF before breaking down in tears.
'Like everyone else, I'e got a thousand questions,' said Grimball, the school chaplain. 'I don't know how to describe it - to be here and now you are gone, an entire family.'
'I don't think you ever heal. I don't think you ever heal,' he said.
Victims of Alaskan plane crash were close
The five members of the Antonakos family and the four members of the McManus family died Sunday with their pilot in a fiery crash of a plane shortly after takeoff from an airport about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage. It was to be the last leg of a long-awaited vacation. All 10 aboard the de Havilland DH3 Otter were killed.
Milton Antonakos, called Melet by most everyone, met Chris McManus just as they were beginning their families. Their families attended the same church and spent leisure time together on a South Carolina lake. Their oldest daughters and only sons were about the same age, so it was almost a perfect match.
Chris McManus was a smart, compassionate radiologist, according to his boss. Friends said McManus' wife Stacey loved teaching Vacation Bible School. Their 17-year-old daughter Meghan was looking at colleges and 15-year-old Connor was almost an Eagle in Boy Scouting.
'They basically grew up as brothers and sisters,' said Tyler McDougald, his eyes red after a night of crying from losing one of his best friends. He grew up with Connor McManus.
Friends said Melet Antonakos sold computer software to doctors. His wife Kim was always volunteering at her children's school. Their 16-year-old daughter Olivia was top in her class; 14-year-old Miles was elected class president and 11-year-old Anastacia, usually sporting a big bow in her hair, made friends with everyone.
Both families were longtime members of Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville, leaving the Rev. Harrison McLeod searching for words to comfort his congregation.
'This isn't just a huge loss for us. It is a huge loss for the community. These were good people, some of the best people you would want to know,' McLeod said
The families were booked on a flight leaving Soldotna, Alaska, to visit a remote bear-viewing lodge in Chinitna Bay.
The plane, which seats up to 11, crashed and burned on takeoff at the small Soldotna airport, landing more than 2,300 feet from the departure point and 88 feet off the right side of the runway, National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener said Tuesday at a news briefing in Anchorage.
There is no surveillance footage of the crash and no one has come forward who witnessed the accident at the airport, which does not have a control tower, authorities said. As with many small airports, pilots follow standard practices such as communicating with each other.
It took firefighters 10 minutes to put out the flames.
Soldotna police have not released the names of the victims, pending positive identifications from the state medical examiner's office. But word spread quickly through Greenville as authorities called South Carolina counterparts, seeking dental records and other information.
The pilot of the downed plane was Walter 'Willie' Rediske of Nikiski, Alaska, according to Rediske Air, which operated the aircraft.
The NTSB sent a team to Alaska. The investigators recovered five cellphones from the wreckage, which will be analyzed for any pertinent information to better understand what happened in the final moments, Weener said. Investigators also hope to learn more from a flight tracking device in the plane that could upload such information as altitude and speed through satellite.
It was the ninth fatal crash in Alaska involving a de Havilland Otter since 1975, including one that crashed in 2010, killing former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others, according to an NTSB database. Sunday's crash brings the total deaths from those crashes to 30.
The Alaska trip was the second big adventure vacation for the families.
Two years earlier, friends said, they visited Yellowstone National Park and had a great time. They were eager for a second trip because they had grown so close, said Tyree Byrd, who lives across the street from Melet Antonakos.
'There are families you like to be around,' Byrd said, calling them 'great people.'
As Byrd spoke, friends and neighbors talked about divvying up such heartbreaking tasks as caring for a pet cat and cleaning out one family's refrigerator.
Melet Antonakos was a Clemson University graduate who attended all the school's football games. He also coached basketball at church. All of his children and all the McManus children played for him at one time.
'I'm going to miss calling them on the phone and getting advice,' said friend Katherine Daniels. 'I have kids in middle school, and they knew just what to do. They were so wise.'
The McManus family was gentle and caring, a trait friends said came both from Chris and Stacey McManus.
Chris McManus worked as a radiologist for Greenville Health System for 14 years. Full of joy, he was one of the most competent, compassionate doctors around and a 'true physician in every sense of the word,' said his supervisor, Radiology Department Chairman C. David Williams III.
Stacey McManus kept teaching Vacation Bible School at Christ Church, even though her children had grown too old to attend, said McLeod, the church's rector.
This is the latest tragedy for his church and its 4,000 members. On June 28, a longtime church member died in a small plane crash in Summit Lake, Alaska. On June 9, two other members died from carbon monoxide poisoning after accidentally turning on their car with a keyless starter, authorities said.
McLeod pauses when asked what he'll tell grieving church members.
'It is a reminder to all of us that life is fragile and life is a gift from God,' he said, adding 'we believe with every fiber of our being that they are in heaven and we will be reunited again one day.'
___
Rachel D'Oro contributed to this report from Anchorage, Alaska.
Copyright 2013 pehlinews.blogspot.com.
Tuesday 9 July 2013
Two close
Greenville, S.C. * The two South Carolina families were so close that some thought their children were brothers and sisters. They were so close that they wanted to spend 10 days together on an adventure into the Alaskan wilderness.
The five members of the Antonakos family and the four members of the McManus family died Sunday with their pilot in a fiery crash of a plane shortly after takeoff from an airport about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage. It was to be the last leg of a long-awaited vacation. All 10 aboard the de Havilland DH3 Otter were killed.
Milton Antonakos, called Melet by most everyone, met Chris McManus just as they were beginning their families. Their families attended the same church and spent leisure time together on a South Carolina lake. Their oldest daughters and only sons were about the same age, so it was almost a perfect match.
Chris McManus was a smart, compassionate radiologist, according to his boss. Friends said McManus' wife Stacey loved teaching Vacation Bible School. Their 17-year-old daughter Meghan was looking at colleges and 15-year-old Connor was almost an Eagle in Boy Scouting.
'They basically grew up as brothers and sisters,' said Tyler McDougald, his eyes red after a night of crying from losing one of his best friends. He grew up with Connor McManus.
Friends said Melet Antonakos sold computer software to doctors. His wife Kim was always volunteering at her children's school. Their 16-year-old daughter Olivia was top in her class; 14-year-old Miles was elected class president and 11-year-old Anastacia, usually sporting a big bow in her hair, made friends with everyone.
Both families were longtime members of Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville, leaving the Rev. Harrison McLeod searching for words to comfort his congregation.
'This isn't just a huge loss for us. It is a huge loss for the community. These were good people, some of the best people you would want to know,' McLeod said
The families were booked on a flight leaving Soldotna, Alaska, to visit a remote bear-viewing lodge in Chinitna Bay. The plane, which seats up to 11 people, crashed on takeoff. No one has come forward who witnessed the crash, authorities said. It took firefighters 10 minutes to put out the flames.
Soldotna police have not released the names of the victims, pending positive identifications from the state medical examiner's office. But word spread quickly through Greenville as authorities called South Carolina counterparts, seeking dental records and other information.
The pilot of the downed plane was Walter 'Willie' Rediske of Nikiski, Alaska, according to Rediske Air, which operated the aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to Alaska. The investigators recovered two cellphones from the wreckage, which will be analyzed for any pertinent recordings, photos or information, NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said.
It was the ninth fatal crash in Alaska involving a de Havilland Otter since 1975, including one that crashed in 2010, killing former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others, according to an NTSB database. Sunday's crash brings the total deaths from those crashes to 30.
The Alaska trip was the second big adventure vacation for the families.
Two years earlier, friends said, they visited Yellowstone National Park and had a great time. They were eager for a second trip because they had grown so close, said Tyree Byrd, who lives across the street from Melet Antonakos.
'There are families you like to be around,' Byrd said, calling them 'great people.'
As Byrd spoke, friends and neighbors talked about divvying up such heartbreaking tasks as caring for a pet cat and cleaning out one family's refrigerator.
Melet Antonakos was a Clemson University graduate who attended all school's football games. He also coached basketball at church. All of his children and all the McManus children played for him at one time. His wife was always volunteering at the children's schools.
'I'm going to miss calling them on the phone and getting advice,' said friend Katherine Daniels. 'I have kids in middle school, and they knew just what to do. They were so wise.'
The McManus family was gentle and caring, a trait friends said came both from Chris and Stacey McManus.
Chris McManus worked as a radiologist for Greenville Health System for 14 years. Full of joy, he was one of the most competent, compassionate doctors around and a 'true physician in every sense of the word,' said his supervisor, Radiology Department Chairman C. David Williams III.
Team investigating Alaska plane crash struggles with few leads
Credit: Reuters/U.S. Navy Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Clifford Bailey/Department of Defense/Handout via Reuters
Dr. Greg Berg (L) and Ms. Kelley Esh, anthropologists leading a specialized recovery team with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, verify a location point as they assess a historic aircraft wreckage site at Colony Glacier, Alaska, in this June 26, 2013 handout photo released to Reuters July 8, 2013.
No one has claimed to have witnessed the crash on Sunday of the de Havilland-built Otter plane at the airport in the fishing town of Soldotna, 65 miles southwest of Anchorage, said National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener, spokesman for the investigation team.
Investigators face another hurdle because the plane had no flight-data box from which information could be gathered and no surveillance video has been found, Weener said. 'It forces us to go back to try to identify ground scars ... how far the impact, where was the debris distributed,' he said.
Investigators will reconstruct the last moments before the crash and then identify possible causes or eliminate them, he said.
The crash killed local pilot Walter Rediske, co-owner of an air-taxi service, and members of two families from South Carolina. The plane was bound from the Soldotna airport for a wilderness lodge about 90 miles to the southwest, Weener said. Investigators have said the plane appears to have crashed shortly after take-off.
The crash came a day after an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 with more than 300 people on board crashed while landing at San Francisco's airport, killing two Chinese teenagers and injuring more than 180 people.
Sunday's death toll was the highest Alaska has seen in any plane crash in more than a decade. The NTSB assembled a 'go team' of six experts, joined by one Alaska-based NTSB official, to investigate the accident.
So far, Weener said, they have found that the plane hit the ground with its right wing down and nose low, and struck a site just off the paved runway.
Investigators hope to glean some information from satellite signals transmitted from the plane and from the five cellular telephones recovered from the crash site, Weener said.
Despite the lack of flight-data information or witness accounts, NTSB team members believe they will determine what likely happened to the plane and its passengers, Weener said. 'I'm quite confident that we will be able to come to what we call a probable cause,' he said.
The investigation team is expected to spend about a week at the site in Alaska, then take up to a year to complete a report.
Travel by floatplanes is common in Alaska, where roads are few and territory is vast. Air crashes are also relatively common, especially in the summer, when tourists and residents visit remote recreation sites.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Mohammad Zargham)
Alaska crash victims thought to be from SC
Nine passengers and one pilot died on Sunday, when a small plane crashed at an airport in Alaska. The crash happened in Soldotna, about 75 miles from Anchorage. (July 8)
Police and emergency personnel stand near the remains of a fixed-wing aircraft that was engulfed in flames Sunday at Soldotna Municipal Airport in Alaska. (Photo: Rashah McChesney, AP)
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Authorities say nine passengers who died when an air taxi crashed and burned at a small Alaska airport are believed to have been South Carolina residents.
The pilot in Sunday's plane crash at the Soldotna airport also died.
Soldotna police said the names of the 10 people on board the de Havilland DHC3 Otter operated by Rediske Air will not be released until their remains have been positively identified by the state medical examiner's office.
Soldotna Officer Mark Berestoff said the hometowns of those on board are not being released at this time.
Rediske Air spokesman Andy Harcombe said the pilot was Walter Rediske of Nikiski.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. NTSB investigator Clint Johnson said weather does not appear to be a factor in the crash.
Before firefighters could get to it, the de Havilland DHC3 Otter began burning just after 11 a.m. Sunday at the airport in Soldotna, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula.
Firefighters from Central Emergency Services were the first on the scene, Capt. Lesley Quelland told the Anchorage Daily News.
'We saw the plume immediately when we left the station,' Quelland said Sunday evening.
It was a big, black cloud of smoke visible from the station, about 3 driving miles from the airport, she said. Firefighters found 'the aircraft was crashed off the side of the runway and it was fully involved in flames,' Quelland said.
It took crews about 10 minutes to put out the fire. Everyone died inside the plane, she said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the Otter was operated by Rediske Air, based out of another Kenai Peninsula community, Nikiski.
The Soldotna Police Department said Sunday evening that the remains of all 10 people have been sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsies and positive identifications.
Police said in a release through the Alaska State Troopers that weather at the time of the crash was reported to be cloudy with a light wind.
Johnson said initial reports have the plane crashing after departure, but that will have to be confirmed by investigators.
The NTSB is sending an investigative team from Washington that's scheduled to arrive Monday afternoon. Also taking part will be Alaska-based investigator Brice Banning, who was called back from the Asiana crash in San Francisco.
For many Alaskans, flying across the state is common because of the limited road system, exposing residents to a litany of hazards, including treacherous mountain passes and volatile weather. It's possible to drive from Anchorage to Soldotna, but it's about a four-hour trip as the highway hugs Turnagain Arm and then cuts through a mountain passage.
Soldotna was founded in 1947 by World War II veterans who were given 90-day preference for homesteading rights in 1947, according to a state website. The city, now with a population of about 4,300, is on the banks of the Kenai River, and the area is busy this time of the year with people fishing for salmon.
Alaska has already seen a several plane crashes this year, including a June 28 crash that killed a pilot and two passengers on a commercial tour in the Alaska Range.
In another crash Saturday, two men had to swim to shore after their plane went down in the waters off Kodiak Island. The small plane crashed after its engine sputtered out, and the men swam about 50 yards, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported.
The Soldotna crash also came a day after two teenagers were killed when an Asiana flight crashed at San Francisco's airport.
The municipal airport is located about a mile from Soldotna's commercial business area and is adjacent to the Kenai River, according to the city's website.
The runway is 5,000 feet long and paved.
Copyright 2013 pehlinews.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
2 SC families are mourned after Alaska air taxi crash
Nine passengers and one pilot died on Sunday, when a small plane crashed at an airport in Alaska. The crash happened in Soldotna, about 75 miles from Anchorage. (July 8)
Nine passengers and the pilot died when the plane crashed Sunday.
Police and emergency personnel stand near the remains of a fixed-wing aircraft that was engulfed in flames Sunday at Soldotna Municipal Airport in Alaska. (Photo: Rashah McChesney, AP)
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The lives of nine people from Greenville - two entire families - ended during a vacation in Alaska, when the small plane they were flying in crashed and burned at a small-town airport 75 miles from Anchorage, family and church officials said.
Melet and Kim Antonakos and their children - Ana, Mills and Olivia - died, along with Chris and Stacey McManus and their children, Meghan and Connor, according to state Rep. Bruce Bannister, who lives near the Antonakos family and goes to church with both families.
EARLIER: Alaska plane crash victims thought to be from South Carolina
It's the third tragedy in less than a month involving parishioners of Christ Church Episcopal, the second involving a plane crash in Alaska.
John Ellenberg, a businessman and aviation firm owner, was killed when the plane he was a passenger in crashed on June 28 in Summit Lake, Alaska, according to officials.
Bill and Woo Thomason died of carbon monoxide poisoning after they were found unconscious in their Crescent Avenue home June 9. Their car accidentally had been left running in the garage, authorities have said.
'I feel like there's a big black cloud over Christ Church right now,' said Heather Meadors, a former director of the preschool for Christ Church Episcopal School who taught all the children as toddlers.
Harrison McLeod, rector of Christ Church, sent out an e-mail to parishioners 'to share with you the news of another tragic loss in our Christ Church family.'
Asked how he could put the series of tragedies in context, he told GreenvilleOnline.com, 'I guess I would just say that during good times and hard times, we are called to rely on our faith in the resurrection and in our companionship with each other.'
Of the Antonakos and McManus families, he said, 'They were both just wonderful families. Vibrant, committed to the church. They will be missed more than words can convey.
'Obviously it's heartbreaking.'
Tracy Underwood of Atlanta, Melet Antonakos' brother-in-law, confirmed his family was told by authorities Monday that the Antonakoses had been killed on the plane, but he said the family didn't want to publicly discuss it.
'We just request family privacy at this time,' he said. 'We just request that our family's wishes be respected. We just prefer not to make any comment.'
The Antonakoses' niece, Angela Welker of Charleston, said authorities told her aunt's sister of the deaths Monday. She said she was too distraught to talk about them.
The pilot, who was from Alaska, also was killed, Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mlynarki said.
He said the state medical examiner hadn't yet confirmed the identities, but based on documents, he said the passengers were all from South Carolina.
The accident happened at 11:20 a.m. Sunday at Soldotna Municipal Airport in the town of about 4,200 in the Kenai Peninsula, according to a statement released by the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The plane was taking off, authorities said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. NTSB spokesman Earl Weener said at a news conference Monday that the agency expects to spend five to eight days on the scene, and determining what caused the accident could take a year.
'Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened, with the aim of preventing the same sort of accident in the future,' he said.
There was no flight data recorder as far as officials can tell, and they don't know of any eyewitnesses.
Bannister said he had lived next to the Antonakos family for six years.
'We had a garden we shared. We looked after each other's houses when one of us was gone,' he said.
The father was in medical equipment sales; the mother was a PTA president, swim team mom and booster club enthusiast.
'You name it, if you needed somebody to volunteer, you called Kim Antonakos and she was there,' he said.
Ana Antonakos was 'an exceptional student' who just completed fifth grade at Sara Collins Elementary, Bannister said.
Mills Antonakos was a rising ninth-grader, Bannister said. He had been the student body president at Beck Middle Academy, according to Meadors.
Olivia Antonakos was a member of the student council at J.L. Mann High School, Meadors said. A rising senior, she was first in her class, according to Bannister.
Of the two mothers, Meadors said, 'They were both just completely selfless. They volunteer for any job.'
Stacey McManus volunteered to teach vacation Bible school every year, even though her children are long past the age to attend, Meadors said.
Melet Antonakos, a radiologist, was 'always smiling,' she said.
Connor and Meghan McManus were students at Christ Church Episcopal School, she said.
Greg Wilkinson, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, which includes the medical examiner's office, said the examiners already had eight bodies that needed to be identified before the 10 from the plane crash arrived.
'We are just beginning to look at these 10 cases this afternoon,' he said Monday.
'Our goal is to complete the exams by tomorrow and have IDs possibly by Wednesday or Thursday, depending on how long it takes to get dental records.'
The de Havilland DHC3 Otter air taxi was operated by Rediske Air, an Alaska-based company that makes short trips, sometimes landing in remote areas, the police chief said.
Barnett and Smith also report for The Greenville (S.C.) News.
The airport where the crash occurred has no control tower and one asphalt and one gravel landing strip, the chief said.
SC community mourns 9 who died in Alaska plane crash
Both families were members of the same church in Greenville, S.C. 
STORY: 2 S.C. families are mourned after Alaska air taxi crashSTORY: Alaska crash victims thought to be from S.C.
Melet and Kim Antonakos, and their children, Ana, Mills and Olivia, of Greenville, S.C., ?died Sunday, July 7, 2013, in a plane crash during a vacation in Alaska. The Antonakos family is shown here in a 2010 Christ Church Episcopal directory photo. (Photo: Courtesy Christ Church Episcopal)
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Friends, neighbors, schoolmates, colleagues and fellow parishioners were in stunned mourning Tuesday as word spread of the deaths of nine vacationers from Greenville, S.C. - two entire families - in the crash of a single-engine plane shortly after takeoff Sunday from a small airport in Alaska.
Meanwhile, investigators were searching for clues at Alaska's Soldotna Municipal Airport almost 75 miles from Anchorage, as grieving parishioners of Christ Church Episcopal were preparing a service and school friends and athletic teammates expressed sorrow.
Melet and Kim Antonakos and their children, Ana, 11, Mills, 14, and Olivia, 16, died, along with Dr. Chris and Stacey McManus and their children, Meghan, 18, and Connor, 16, said South Carolina House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister, who lives near the Antonakos family and goes to church with both families.
STORY: 2 S.C. families are mourned after Alaska air taxi crashSTORY: Alaska crash victims thought to be from S.C.
A candlelight vigil is planned for Tuesday night at 9 p.m., said Kim Geddie, a representative for Gower Swimming.
At the Antonakos home Tuesday, dozens of people, mostly teens, walked across the broad front lawn to a book on the front porch to write remembrances to their friends. Neighbors stood in the street, talking quietly.
The neighbors said the best thing they can do for their friends now is to tell their story, one of a loving family, accomplished and respectful children and a spirit of giving.
'They were fun, always made you laugh, always found something to laugh about,' said Mary Margaret Bannister, a neighbor, and the wife of the South Carolina state representative.
'I'm thinking about all the volunteer stuff she roped me into,' said Lynn Norwood, who knew Kim Antonakos since they were in high school together. 'School, church. We taught Sunday school together, Freaky Friday.'
Dr. Chris and Stacey McManus and their children Meghan and Connor, of Greenville, S.C., shown here in this 2010 photo, died in a plane crash Sunday, July 7, 2013, while on vacation with the Antonakos family in Alaska.(Photo: Courtesy Christ Church Episcopal)
The plane crash is the third tragedy in less than a month involving parishioners of Christ Church Episcopal, the second involving a plane crash in Alaska.
Olivia Antonakos was a rising junior at J.L. Mann High School, first in her class, secretary of the student council and a member of the varsity basketball team. Her basketball coach Darah Huffman called her accomplishments exceptional.
'Her father was so proud of her academic excellence but also concerned about her stressing herself out,' said Huffman.
She said Olivia probably would have been a starter next year.
Her brother, Mills, a rising freshman at Mann, also was a talented basketball player and star student who was president of the student body at Beck Academy last year. He did the announcements over the public address system every morning.
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what caused the accident of the de Havilland DHC3 Otter air taxi Sunday morning at the Soldotna Municipal Airport in the town of about 4,200, authorities said. The pilot also died in the crash.
Riddle and Barnett also write for The Greenville (S.C.) News. Contributing: David Dykes, The Greenville (S.C.) News
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GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - The two South Carolina families killed in a plane crash in Alaska were so close that friends thought their children were brothers and sisters.
Five members of the Antonakos family and four members of the McManus family died along with the pilot Sunday in a crash on the last leg of a 10-day trip to a fishing lodge.
Milton Antonakos, who everyone called Melet, sold computer software. His wife, Kim, was always volunteering at her children's school. Their 16-year-old daughter Olivia was at the top of her class; 14-year-old Miles was elected class president; and 11-year-old Anastacia made friends with everyone.
Chris McManus was a radiologist full of compassion. His wife, Stacey, loved Vacation Bible School. Their 17-year-old daughter Meghan was looking at colleges, and 15-year-old Connor was almost an Eagle scout.
South Carolina family killed in fiery plane crash while vacationing in Alaska
The plane had just taken off and apparently was en route to a fishing lodge, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson. All ten people aboard were killed.
Rashah McChesney/APANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Antonakos family of Greenville, S.C., usually stuck close to home for summer vacations, but this year they decided to explore Alaska.
'They were very excited,' the father of Kimberly Antonakos, H. Wayne Clayton, said Monday. 'They never had been there before and wanted to see what it was like.'
Kimberly Antonakos, her husband Melet Antonakos and their three children were among those killed in a fiery Alaska plane crash that left all 10 on board dead.
The Antonakos family of Greenville, S.C., usually went to Myrtle Beach, S.C., each summer, but Clayton said Monday his daughter and her family decided to travel to Alaska for 10 days this year instead.
Clayton said his son-in-law sold computer software to hospitals and doctors' offices, while Kimberly shuffled the three children to their many activities. The children were 16-year-old Olivia, 14-year-old Mills and 11-year-old Anastacia.
'It's rough, to lose five (family) members at one time,' Clayton said.
Bill Roth/APInvestigators have begun their probe of the de Havilland DHC3 Otter that crashed and burned Sunday at the airport in Soldotna, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula. The plane had just taken off and apparently was en route to a fishing lodge, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson.
South Carolina House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister said four of the other victims were also a family from Greenville, S.C. - Chris McManus and Stacey McManus and their two children.
Bannister said the Antonakos family lived on his street in Greenville. Olivia was going to be in 11th grade, Mills was going to be in ninth grade and Anna was going to be in sixth grade next year, he said.
'They were great kids - just a fantastic family,' Bannister said.
The victims also included the plane's pilot.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the Otter was operated by Rediske Air, based in Nikiski, another Kenai Peninsula community. The pilot of the downed plane was Nikiski-based Walter 'Willie' Rediske, company spokesman Andy Harcombe said.
HANDOUT/REUTERSThe remains of the victims were sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsies and positive identifications.
The majority of Alaska communities aren't connected to the road system, with small planes providing a vital link to the outside world. They bring in food, medicine, mail and other supplies, and provide for air travel - with scheduled and on-demand flights. Air taxis, which provide nonscheduled commercial flights, provide access to wilderness areas and link small, remote villages, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.
During the summer tourist season, helicopters and seaplanes - small aircraft outfitted with floats that take off from and land on water - are commonly seen in places like Juneau, Alaska's capital city, taking visitors to see glaciers, bears or other attractions.
'Aviation is a basic mode of transportation and the small general aviation aircraft is the equivalent of the minivan for a family in Bush Alaska,' C. Joy Journeay, executive director of the Alaska Air Carriers Association, said in an email.
'Over 10,000 piston engine aircraft are registered in the State of Alaska and provide the primary means of transportation,' she said. 'They are the backbone of transportation for the state.'
The NTSB sent an investigative team from Washington, D.C., that arrived in Anchorage on Monday afternoon before heading to Soldotna. NTSB member Earl Weener said the on-scene investigation is expected to last between five and eight days, with a probable cause determination expected in about a year.
Rashah McChesney/APAt the time of the crash, there were light winds and high clouds, Johnson said.
Rediske Air was involved in an accident last year in Nikiski, according to an NTSB database report.
In the non-injury mishap, the pilot of a Cessna 207A plane misidentified the runway surface at night and landed the aircraft in a snow bank. The pilot said most of the runway lights had been covered by heavy snow and were not clearly visible.
The plane's wings and horizontal stabilizer sustained substantial damage.
In the Soldotna crash, the flames took 10 minutes to extinguish and initially kept firefighters from reaching the wreckage, according to authorities.
The de Havilland is similar to an Otter that crashed in Alaska in 2010, killing former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others, Johnson said. The plane in the Stevens crash was equipped with floats, while the plane in Sunday's crash had wheels.
It's possible to drive from Anchorage to Soldotna, but it's about a four-hour trip as the highway hugs Turnagain Arm, then cuts through a mountain pass.
Soldotna, with a population of about 4,300, is on the banks of the Kenai River, and the area is busy this time of the year with people fishing for salmon. The airport is located about a mile from a commercial area and has a paved runway that is 5,000 feet long.
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NTSB: 10 killed in Alaska plane crash
Nine passengers and one pilot died on Sunday, when a small plane crashed at an airport in Alaska. The crash happened in Soldotna, about 75 miles from Anchorage. (July 8)
Police and emergency personnel stand near the remains of a fixed-wing aircraft that was engulfed in flames Sunday at Soldotna Municipal Airport in Alaska. (Photo: Rashah McChesney, AP)
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Authorities say nine passengers who died when an air taxi crashed and burned at a small Alaska airport are believed to have been South Carolina residents.
The pilot in Sunday's plane crash at the Soldotna airport also died.
Soldotna police said the names of the 10 people on board the de Havilland DHC3 Otter operated by Rediske Air will not be released until their remains have been positively identified by the state medical examiner's office.
Soldotna Officer Mark Berestoff said the hometowns of those on board are not being released at this time.
Rediske Air spokesman Andy Harcombe said the pilot was Walter Rediske of Nikiski.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. NTSB investigator Clint Johnson said weather does not appear to be a factor in the crash.
Before firefighters could get to it, the de Havilland DHC3 Otter began burning just after 11 a.m. Sunday at the airport in Soldotna, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula.
Firefighters from Central Emergency Services were the first on the scene, Capt. Lesley Quelland told the Anchorage Daily News.
'We saw the plume immediately when we left the station,' Quelland said Sunday evening.
It was a big, black cloud of smoke visible from the station, about 3 driving miles from the airport, she said. Firefighters found 'the aircraft was crashed off the side of the runway and it was fully involved in flames,' Quelland said.
It took crews about 10 minutes to put out the fire. Everyone died inside the plane, she said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the Otter was operated by Rediske Air, based out of another Kenai Peninsula community, Nikiski.
The Soldotna Police Department said Sunday evening that the remains of all 10 people have been sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsies and positive identifications.
Police said in a release through the Alaska State Troopers that weather at the time of the crash was reported to be cloudy with a light wind.
Johnson said initial reports have the plane crashing after departure, but that will have to be confirmed by investigators.
The NTSB is sending an investigative team from Washington that's scheduled to arrive Monday afternoon. Also taking part will be Alaska-based investigator Brice Banning, who was called back from the Asiana crash in San Francisco.
For many Alaskans, flying across the state is common because of the limited road system, exposing residents to a litany of hazards, including treacherous mountain passes and volatile weather. It's possible to drive from Anchorage to Soldotna, but it's about a four-hour trip as the highway hugs Turnagain Arm and then cuts through a mountain passage.
Soldotna was founded in 1947 by World War II veterans who were given 90-day preference for homesteading rights in 1947, according to a state website. The city, now with a population of about 4,300, is on the banks of the Kenai River, and the area is busy this time of the year with people fishing for salmon.
Alaska has already seen a several plane crashes this year, including a June 28 crash that killed a pilot and two passengers on a commercial tour in the Alaska Range.
In another crash Saturday, two men had to swim to shore after their plane went down in the waters off Kodiak Island. The small plane crashed after its engine sputtered out, and the men swam about 50 yards, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported.
The Soldotna crash also came a day after two teenagers were killed when an Asiana flight crashed at San Francisco's airport.
The municipal airport is located about a mile from Soldotna's commercial business area and is adjacent to the Kenai River, according to the city's website.
The runway is 5,000 feet long and paved.
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Federal Investigators Probing Alaska Plane Crash That Killed 10
An investigative team from the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive in Soldotna, Alaska, today to begin a probe into what caused a single-engine propeller plane to crash over the weekend, killing all 10 people on board.
The charred wreckage of a de Havilland DHC3 Otter remained on the runway at Soldotna Municipal Airport today, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage, awaiting the arrival of the NTSB team.
The plane was believed to have been taking off from the airport Sunday morning when it became engulfed in flames, Roy Browning, deputy chief of Central Elemergency Services in Soldotna, told ABCNews.com.
Surviving a Plane Crash: Where You Sit Could Be The Difference Between Life and Death
Browning said a team of firefighters was on the scene within minutes, but by the time they had extinguished the flames, everyone on board had been killed.
The pilot was identified as Walter Rediske, the owner of Rediske Air, an air charter service in Nikiski, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
A person who answered the phone at a number listed for Rediske Air declined to comment and cited the pending NTSB investigation into the crash.
The names of the deceased have not been released, and it was not immediately known where they were going or coming from, Eric Weiss, a spokesman for the NTSB, told ABCNews.com.
Browning said Soldotna is a popular spot for tourists.
'We have lots of lakes in the surrounding area,' he said. 'There is obviously a lot of sighseeing and fishing and hunting lodges, but they could have been commuting to another town.'
The crash came just one day after Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed at San Francisco International Airport. The tail was torn off on impact and the plane burst into flames.
The crash of the Boeing 777 resulted in two deaths and 181 people were injured. Forty-nine patients were still hospitalized today and eight patients remained in critical condition.
Alaska Plane Crash Killed Two South Carolina Families
A plane crash in Alaska on Sunday took the lives of two South Carolina families, according to state Representative Bruce Bannister, who was friends with both families.
Those killed in the fiery crash were Melet and Kim Antonakos and their children - Ana, Mills, and Olivia. Also killed were Chris and Stacey McManus and their children, Meghan and Connor.
The pilot, who was from Alaska, was also killed. Tracy Underwood, brother-in-law to Antonakos, confirmed his family was told about the deaths on Monday. He added:
'We just request family privacy at this time. We just request that our family's wishes be respected .We just prefer not to make any comment.'
While friends and family confirmed the victims killed in the Alaska plane crash, Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mlynarki stated that the state's medical examiner has not yet confirmed their identities. However, he did say that he believed the passengers were all from South Carolina.
The families were reportedly on vacation in Alaska, heading to the Bear Mountain Lodge in Chinitna Bay at the time of the accident. It is not yet clear what caused the plane to crash. However, the National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team of investigators to Alaska to examine the plane crash.
The di Havilland DHC3 Otter was operated by a regionally based charter company, Rediske Air. It crashed at the airport in Soldotna, which is about 75 miles away from Anchorage. The accident happened around 11 am local time.
NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss explained that the crash is considered a high priority for the agency, as the aircraft, a single-engine pontoon plane, was an air taxi. The designation makes it be held to a higher standard than a general aviation aircraft.
The six-person 'go team' will spend five to eight days doing an initial ground investigation and a final report will likely take about a year to complete.
While authorities have not publicly confirmed the identity of any of those killed in the Alaska plane crash, the pilot was reportedly identified as Walter Rediske, 42, co-owner of Rediske Air. It appeared that the plane crashed on take-off.
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