A small commuter plane has made an emergency landing in the Alaskan wilderness after developing engine trouble in flight, and all nine people on board survived. According to the coverage, the aircraft was a Cessna 208 Caravan carrying one pilot and eight passengers when it was forced down in remote terrain, in an ordeal that the passengers say could easily have ended very differently.
The flight had taken off from Fairbanks and flown to Coldfoot, and was continuing on toward Anaktuvuk Pass when the trouble began. According to the account, the plane developed engine problems along the way, leaving the pilot to deal with a failing aircraft over one of the most isolated and rugged landscapes in the United States.
One of the passengers, Brett Felipe, filmed the experience and later described it in a blog post. According to his account, the pilot turned back to the passengers and said that he was looking for a spot to land. Felipe wrote that he cinched his seatbelt tight as the pilot searched for somewhere to bring the plane down safely in the wilderness below.
The pilot managed to put the aircraft on the ground in the bush. According to the coverage, the impact dug skid marks into the earth, but the dirt-covered plane was left mostly intact, sparing those on board from the kind of catastrophic damage that such a forced landing can bring in unforgiving country far from any runway.
The rescue followed relatively quickly given how remote the location was. About thirty minutes after the landing, a search plane was overhead and found the group. Roughly two hours later, a helicopter began lifting everyone out, and the passengers and pilot were taken back to Coldfoot, with everyone reported safe.
In the aftermath, the passengers have credited the pilot with saving their lives. The Cessna 208 Caravan was described as a rugged and reliable aircraft built for exactly this kind of demanding flying, but those on board were in no doubt that it was the pilot's handling of the emergency that brought them through the ordeal without serious injury.