Alaskan plane crash survivors: 12‑hour ordeal on icy lake
Three people survived a plane crash and waited for 12 hours on the wing of the wrecked plane, which had crashed onto an icy lake in Alaska.
The pilot and his two daughters survived the dramatic incident. After the plane crashed onto the frozen surface of a lake, the pilot, travelling with his two daughters, managed to escape from the partially submerged Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser and found refuge on its wing. The three of them spent twelve hours stranded there before a civilian pilot discovered them.
The aircraft vanished from radar on Sunday evening after departing from Soldotna Airport. According to ABC News, a search operation was promptly launched. Initially, the aircraft could not be located as the wreckage did not emit an alarm signal. Bild reported that a signal from a mobile phone ultimately guided rescuers, indicating that the plane was near Lake Tustumena and the Kenai Mountains.
The pilot's father made a social media appeal urging people to help find his loved ones. Twelve pilots joined the search after seeing his plea on Facebook. Among them was Terry Godes, who headed towards Lake Tustumena.
"It kind of broke my heart to see that, but as I got closer down and lower, I could see that there's three people on top of the wing," reported Terry Godes to AP News.
A happy ending
Godes relayed information about the wreckage's location to other pilots involved in the search operation, who then informed the authorities. Rescuers from the Alaska Army National Guard arrived on the scene.
They successfully rescued the pilot and his two daughters, all taken to a local hospital. However, there is currently no information about their injuries or the potential causes of the accident.
