Search & Rescue

A Coast Guard boat crew came to the aid of a fisherman who got one of his legs tangled in crab pot gear on Monday.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Brent Flanick says they initially got a call from a Juneau resident saying that their friend was overdue.

The unidentified boater, believed to be roughly 45 years old, reportedly went out in a canoe between Portland Island and Point Louisa. When the canoe capsized Monday evening, Flanick says they got calls about a man screaming or yelling on the water.

The man hung on to the overturned canoe until the crew of a Coast Guard 25-foot small response boat could arrive on the scene and cut him loose. A line from the crab pot was wrapped around the man’s leg and was possibly pulling him underwater.

Flanick says the man was wearing a life jacket. But he suffered from hypothermia after being in the water for about an hour. The Coast Guard boat crew transported the man back to Auke Bay just before eleven o’clock Monday night. An ambulance crew took him to Bartlett Regional Hospital for potential evaluation and any treatment.

Flanick says the Coast Guard boat crew then returned to the scene to retrieve the man’s canoe for safekeeping at the Liberty dock.

Update:

A boater who had been missing since Sunday in the Ketchikan area was found Wednesday just north of Knudson Cove.

The man had grounded his 19-foot boat on rocks. He was waving a flare when he was spotted by a private helicopter. He was picked up by a Coast Guard crew from Ketchikan.

The Coast Guard had suspended its search after covering more than 1,400 square miles.

The man had been reported missing when he failed to arrive at Metlakatla from Knudson Cove.

Original Story:

The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a man reported overdue in Metlakatla.
The Coast Guard was informed Sunday of the overdue mariner in the Ketchikan area. The man, traveling in a 19-foot boat, was traveling to Metlakatla from Knudson Cove.

The Coast Guard searched an area more than 1,400 square miles before suspending the search.

The missing man’s name hasn’t been released.

Capital City Fire and Rescue and Alaska State Troopers Tuesday helped two hikers get off the West Glacier Trail, including a Florida woman with a broken leg.

Trooper Sgt. Tim Birt said a 27-year-old woman fell on slippery rocks. He said she called a friend, who in turn called state troopers and the Juneau fire department. A rope team as well as state trooper and CCFR boat crews coordinated her rescue from an area across Mendenhall Lake from the glacier visitors’ center, according to Birt. She was treated at the scene then loaded into a helicopter.

“Once she was contacted, it was determined that the rocks were too hazardous, too slippery due to the rainfall that we’ve had, so we chartered a Temsco helicopter to go in and pick her up and transport her over to the trailhead parking lot of the West Glacier Trail, where she was turned over to an EMS crew,” he said.

At the same time a 50-year-old man reported he was lost somewhere off the West Glacier Trail.

“Troopers had contact with him via his cellphone and directed him to respond towards the water on the lake, so they could find him with the riverboat. While he was doing that, he came across the trail and started hiking out, and got back to the parking lot at the same time, coincidentally, as the helicopter was delivering the woman with the broken leg,” Birt said.

The injured hiker was identified as Kristen Walling of Florida. She was taken by ambulance to Bartlett Regional Hospital.

The lost hiker was Scott Frymire of British Columbia, Canada. He reported no injuries.

Birt said both hikers were visiting Juneau as tourists.

Authorities have recovered the body of Air Excursions pilot Kevin Murray, along with wreckage of the Piper Cherokee airplane he was flying last Thursday when it went down between Juneau and Gustavus.

Alaska State Trooper Tim Birt says Juneau Mountain Rescue and Coastal Helicopters assisted with Saturday’s recovery effort near Point Howard, about 23 miles west of Juneau. Poor weather on Friday delayed the mission until this weekend.

The 56-year-old Murray was the only person on board the flight to Gustavus.

The plane was turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board to determine the cause of the crash.

Update 4 p.m.

Alaska State Troopers have identified the pilot in yesterday’s fatal plane crash near Juneau.

He’s 56-year-old Kevin Murray from Washington state. He was the only person aboard the Air Excursions Piper Cherokee when it went down yesterday morning near Point Howard, 23 miles west of Juneau.

Trooper Tim Birt says low clouds and rain prevented a recovery mission on Friday, so crews will try again on Saturday.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.

Air Excursions Operations Director Mike Loverink released a written statement, saying the company is “deeply saddened by the news.” Loverink also thanked all of those who searched for Murray on Thursday.

The plane left Juneau Airport about 8:20 yesterday morning, and was due into Gustavus at 8:55. Murray last made contact with flight service around 8:47.

An aerial search by the Coast Guard and Coastal Helicopters launched about 9:15. The Coastal crew spotted the wrecked plane at 3 o’ clock in the afternoon. A team from Juneau Mountain Rescue was dropped near the crash site and found Murray’s body around 4:30 p.m.

Update 1 p.m.

Air Excursions Director of Operations Mike Loverink has released a statement. It reads:

“Air Excursions is deeply saddened by the news of the death of our pilot,
co-worker and friend Kevin Murray. Our thoughts and prayers are
with his family at this time.

We will assist the National Transportation Safety Board in any and all
ways to determine the facts surrounding this incident. Safety is,
and will always be, our number one concern.

We want to thank all those involved in the initial search for Kevin,
including Coastal Helicopters, the Coast Guard, the Alaska State Troopers,
the employees at Air Excursions and the many friends in the Juneau
aviation community that were there for us when we needed you.
Your support is deeply appreciated.”

Original story, 10:15 a.m.

Alaska State Troopers have identified the pilot who died in yesterday’s plane crash near Juneau.

He’s 56-year-old Kevin Murray from Washington state. Family has been notified, and Trooper Tim Birt says crews will attempt to recover the body and plane this afternoon, if the weather improves.

Murray was the only person on board the Piper Cherokee owned by Air Excursions when it went down at about 8:50 yesterday morning near Point Howard, 23 miles west of Juneau.

He had been due into Gustavus at 8:55 and last made contact around 8:47.

An aerial search by the Coast Guard and Coastal Helicopters launched about 9:15 yesterday morning. The Coastal crew spotted the wrecked plane about 3 o’ clock in the afternoon. A team from Juneau Mountain Rescue was dropped near the crash site and found Murray’s body around 4:30 p.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.

The Coast Guard says a 50-foot fishing vessel capsized and sank while pulling in loaded salmon nets but another nearby boat rescued all five of the stricken vessel’s crew members.

Lt. Ryan Erickson says the Evening Star sank early Thursday about 40 miles northwest of Sitka, Alaska.

The boat went down in Slocum Arm in 300 feet of water with about 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel aboard. The fishing vessel Chickamene came to the rescue and took the Evening Star’s crew to Sitka.

Erickson says the Coast Guard is working with the vessel owner to deal with pollution and salvage the boat if possible.

Inspectors saw a sheen in the area Thursday afternoon, prompting the Alaska Fish and Game Department to announce an emergency closure of an active salmon fishery.