TWO small planes involved in a mid-air collision which had an unusual outcome – in that all 13 people on board survived – will be examined in Alaska as investigators determine what went wrong… and right.
The owner of one plane, Glen Alsworth, called the outcome of Sunday’s collision – in a narrow river valley about 100 miles (160km) southwest of Anchorage – miraculous.
“It’s a miracle,” Alsworth told The Cordoba Times, “that planes can touch each other in any fashion without any serious consequences and normally it is fatal. I’m just thanking the Lord for watching over everyone.”
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus agreed, saying Monday it was “extremely unusual” for planes to land safely after a midair collision.
The two aircraft – a Piper Navajo with nine people on board and a Cessna 206 floatplane carrying four – were headed in opposite directions in Lake Clark Pass when the collision occurred.
The Cessna hit the Piper’s tail with its floats, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Larry Lewis told the Anchorage Daily News.
“You’d be surprised how hard it is to see an aeroplane coming at you,” he said.
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