KUCB - Unalaska

The City of Unalaska may consider legal action against the airlines involved in last month’s fatal plane crash.

City councilor Shari Coleman proposed the idea at a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 12. She said the community is suffering from financial “collateral damage” as regular flights to and from Anchorage have been shut down for nearly four weeks.

“We kind of just got dropped,” said Coleman. “I do wonder, though, with all of the talk about Alaska Airlines’ responsibility, is there a legitimate legal option? A course of action that the city should or might think about taking?”

Alaska Airlines has long marketed Unalaska’s route, selling tickets and setting prices. Ravn Air Group is the carrier that operates the flights. It was also Ravn’s decision to ground the Saab 2000 that crashed and then start the lengthy process of certifying another aircraft to run the route temporarily: the smaller, slower DeHavilland Dash 8.

Vice Mayor Dennis Robinson said the city needs to clarify the obligations of both airlines, as well as explore legal options to address lost business.

While city officials have said it’s hard to quantify the “cascading” economic impacts, they’re confident they are “far-reaching” due to Unalaska’s position as the Aleutian region’s hub and the nation’s top fishing port in terms of volume landed.

Robinson said the airline route alone is worth big money.

“There are 58,000 passengers to and from this community in a year. That’s almost 12 times the population of the City of Unalaska,” said Robinson. “It’s worth $35 million, and I’m sure that there are some heads being turned.”

Those figures are meant to turn heads. They come from a new white paper the city has created to help with longer-term lobbying efforts at the state and federal levels.

Whether or not the city pursues legal action, officials said the crash and suspension of flights have “highlighted how fragile public transportation is for Unalaska and the entire region.” To improve it, the city is planning to push for support and funding from the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as the state and federal Departments of Transportation.

Ports Director Peggy McLaughlin helped to write the paper. She said there’s no easy or inexpensive fix, but the city is looking at ways to lengthen the airport’s short runway — or rejoin the Essential Air Service program, which Unalaska last participated in in the late 1990s. The goal is to attract more airlines or allow a wider variety of planes that can land safely.

“The lack of redundancy of one more than one airline — and the lack of redundancy of more than one type of aircraft that can fly in here — has created a big part of the backlog we have today,” said McLaughlin. “I think there’s a certain amount of responsibility that falls with government agencies that can be explored.”

The city is also planning to distribute its white paper to Alaska’s congressional delegation, the region’s seafood companies, and other frequent partners.

Ravn is expected to resume regular flights on Thursday, Nov. 14., while a federal investigation continues into the cause of the crash.

Unalaska has declared a local emergency over the community’s lack of commercial air service.

The Unalaska City Council unanimously approved a declaration at a special meeting on Tuesday — almost two weeks after RavnAir Group suspended the island’s regular flights to and from Anchorage in the wake of a fatal plane crash.

Unalaska Mayor Vince Tutiakoff Sr. said the emergency order is a sort of message to the airline, which is only offering charter flights until it can certify a new aircraft for the route and restart commercial service.

“We’re saying it’s not enough,” said Tutiakoff.

Before Tuesday’s declaration, RavnAir President Dave Pflieger stood by the decision to delay commercial service, saying the regional airline wanted to make sure flights were conducted “in the safest manner possible.”

“We’re doing our best to get regularly scheduled commercial service going,” said Pflieger. “Unfortunately, it just takes some time for us to get ready to do that.”

With the declaration, the city is planning to take on the complicated and expensive chartering process so individual Unalaskans don’t have to. The order allows the city to charter as many as three flights per week — and to resell the seats to the many community members looking to travel for work, vacation, medical appointments and more.

Tutiakoff said the city’s goal is to get flights up and running next week — as long it can secure an emergency waiver from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Officials will be working toward that waiver for the remainder of this week, as well as checking charter pricing from Ravn and other carriers.

“We heard $27,000 a few days ago,” said Tutiakoff. “It depends on the size of the plane and a lot of different things. That’s hopefully what we’ll find out on Friday.”

That timeline would have community charters starting just as Ravn plans to resume regular service — about three weeks after the accident.

But Councilor Shari Coleman said the city needs to move forward as if the airline won’t be ready.

“I’m not real confident in their date line,” said Coleman. “So even though this may seem like it’s taking forever, we have to keep putting one foot in front. If (the city’s role) is short-term, fabulous. But if it ends up being longer, at least we have a plan.”

Beyond enabling the city’s short-term plan for charters, Tutiakoff said declaring a local emergency will help councilors as they seek state and federal help for long-term projects to improve Unalaska’s aviation safety and reliability.

Specifically, he said they need to consider lengthening the airport’s runway so it can host larger planes.

“We’re hoping that this approval of the emergency declaration would also rattle the cages in Washington, D.C.,” said Tutiakoff. “Start looking at this community for what it is. We’re the largest fishing community (by port volume in the country) and here we’re sitting, being fed little planes, when we have 10,000 to 20,000 people coming in in about a month and a half.”

With the busy winter fishing season set to ramp up in late December, it’s unclear how Unalaska’s air service will look at that time — and how airlines will handle the influx of seasonal fishers and processors.

The City Council is planning to continue calling special meetings on aviation as the situation unfolds, including one session this Friday, Nov. 1.

Update (Wednesday, 4:27 p.m.) — Laura Kraegel, KUCB-Unalaska

Unalaska has declared a local emergency over the community’s lack of commercial air service. The Unalaska City Council unanimously approved a declaration at a special meeting on Tuesday. (Read more.)

Original story

Unalaska may declare a state of emergency following a fatal plane crash on the island this month.

City officials took up the idea after RavnAir Group announced that it would not resume regular flights until early November — and that even afterwards, it would fly smaller, slower planes indefinitely.

Now, as the busy winter fishing season approaches, the community is trying to head off negative impacts to its economy, as well as ensure its safe and daily service.

Unalaska is not expected to see regular commercial flights until sometime during the week of Nov. 4. If that timeline holds true, the community will have gone for about three weeks without scheduled service to and from Anchorage.

“At what point do we start looking at this as a state of emergency?” asked resident Carlos Tayag at a community meeting on Friday.

Tayag was one of more than a dozen people who testified about the effects of the crash and stalled flights — from family separations and missed work to canceled medical appointments and grief.

“This isn’t something where people are just calling and saying, ‘We’re having travel issues out here in Dutch Harbor,’” said Tayag. “Someone died. At what point do we take this as serious as it is and ask for state help? National help?”

Vice Mayor Dennis Robinson agreed the city should consider an emergency declaration. He pointed to the community’s status as the country’s biggest seafood port by volume — and the fact that crab and pollock fishing isn’t far off.

“The state of emergency that we’re in is not only stranded passengers,” said Robinson. “The city of Unalaska is going to take an economic hit, because the vessels that fish here are going to have to make a decision (whether) to run to Kodiak or other ports that can get better airline service and tie their boats up there.”

Beyond hurting local tax revenue, Robinson said any loss of port traffic would hit island businesses big and small. So he asked city officials and state Rep. Bryce Edgmon of Dillingham to look more specifically at how an emergency order might help.

The Unalaska City Council is expected to pick up that discussion at a special meeting on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, RavnAir President Dave Pflieger said Unalaska’s daily flights will resume as soon as the airline certifies its De Havilland Dash 8 aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration.

“We’re doing our best to get regularly scheduled commercial service going,” said Pflieger. “Unfortunately, it just takes some time for us to get ready to do that.”

The Dash 8 is set to replace the Saab 2000, which flew the route on a temporary basis.

While the switch in planes has lengthened the delay, Pflieger said he stands by it.

“I am the one who made the decision to stop service with Saab 2000 aircraft to Dutch Harbor,” he said. “And before I am ready to allow resumption of regularly scheduled PenAir Saab 2000 operations, I must ensure that we are ready to do (commercial flights) in the safest manner possible.”

Ravn offered no timeline for reinstating the Saab 2000, which carries more passengers and cargo than the Dash 8. It also shaves times off the trip between Unalaska and Anchorage — and completes it without a refueling stop.

For those reasons, resident and former mayor Frank Kelty told Pflieger that he hopes the Saab 2000s are back in operation before winter wreaks further havoc on travel.

“I’m concerned if you’re going to have enough aircraft if we’re still with the Dash (by winter time),” said Kelty. “If we have weather events, which we certainly will in January or February, we don’t have the redundancy to play catch up. You’re going to have 300 or 400 people stuck in the airport — in both airports.”

Ravn officials said they’re confident they’ll be able to serve the route with the Dash 8, though they haven’t said yet if the new aircraft will match the two or three daily flights provided by the the Saab 2000. It’s also unclear how much Dash 8 flights will cost in comparison — or if travelers will receive the same baggage allowances and mileage plan options.

Ravn is still figuring out those details with marketing partner Alaska Airlines.

With two days until the deadline, only two Unalaskans have filed to run for local office in October.

City Councilor Dave Gregory is running for reelection on City Council seat D, while Darin Nicholson has declared his candidacy for City Council seat C, currently held by Roger Rowland.

That leaves the ballot blank for three posts: one on the council, currently held by Mayor Frank Kelty (seat A); and two on the school board, held by Kelty (seat C) and Denise Rankin (seat D).

Prospective candidates must file to run at City Hall by Monday, Aug. 19.

Unalaska’s election is Oct. 1.

Twenty cruise ships are slated to call on Unalaska this year.

That’ll set a new record, according to Executive Director Carlin Enlow of the Unalaska/Port of Dutch Harbor Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“We were going to have 13 cruise ships a couple years ago, and three of them canceled,” she said. “We went down to eight last year. So to have 20 cruise ships this year is a huge, huge increase.”

The first vessel will arrive May 6, with cruise season continuing through the end of September.

In the past, Unalaska has generally seen smaller ships with 200 to 300 passengers. But this year, Enlow said most ships will carry 500 to 700.

“It’s going to make it busy, because there’ll be a steady incoming of medium-sized ship after medium-sized ship after medium-sized ship,” she said. “After this season, I think the city will be able to see what is working and what is not working.”

Enlow is referring to the difficult logistics surrounding cruise season in a small community — coordinating buses from the port, dealing with extra pedestrian traffic, and managing greater demand at stores and restaurants.

Unalaska is still grappling with the challenges that come with more vessels. Because of that, Enlow said the Visitors Bureau doesn’t solicit ships — and she doesn’t want that to change anytime soon.

“We just don’t have the infrastructure right now,” she said. “We don’t have the facilities. I don’t think we even have the slightest idea of what we would do if there was an emergency and we had 500 to 2,000 extra people on the island. There’s a lot that needs to be talked about and put in place before we would even consider going out for bids or soliciting cruise ships.”

So while tourism demand is growing, Enlow said she doesn’t foresee Unalaska becoming a major cruise ship destination like Ketchikan or Juneau.

“I like our little haven out here, being this little tight-knit community, and this island being our secret home,” she said. “The flip side is this is a great alternative revenue source for our community. If fishing were to take a nosedive, then tourism could be another income source.”

Enlow said increased tourism will be good for existing small businesses and nonprofits — and could even support new businesses that cater to visitors.

That’s a sentiment echoed by the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, which has invested startup funds in two local ventures. One would provide bike rentals, while the other would offer tours and recreational equipment, including jet skis and paddle boats.

A previous version of this story provided an incorrect author in the byline. KUCB’s Zoë Sobel filed this report, not Laura Kraegel.

In Unalaska, the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the death of a crew member of the cutter Douglas Munro.

Ethan Kelch, 19, was reported missing Saturday night, according to Lt. Brian Dykens of the Coast Guard’s public affairs office.

After a ground and air search, the Virginia man was found unresponsive Sunday on the “west side of Amaknak Island.”

“The Cutter Douglas Munro was in port receiving repairs, and the incident occurred early Sunday morning,” said Dykens.

Local emergency responders performed CPR on Kelch before taking him to a medical clinic, where he was pronounced dead.

While Dykens declined to say whether investigators suspect foul play, he said the inquiry will be led by a Coast Guard unit that can conduct criminal investigations.

“Coast Guard Investigative Service agents are working with local law authorities to investigate the cause of the death,” he said. “This is an active, ongoing investigation.”

Dykens said the inquiry is in the “very preliminary” stages, but he expects the Coast Guard to release the findings when it’s complete.

“I just ask that folks there in Dutch Harbor be patient with the Coast Guard as we continue this investigation,” he said. “Once we get more information, we’ll let everybody know the results.”

Dykens also said the Coast Guard has extended its condolences to Kelch’s family, friends and fellow crew members who are mourning his “sudden, tragic” death.