Alaska State Troopers provided updated information regarding the aircraft crash that happened in Chugach State Park. It was reported at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, July 26, that the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center was notified of an overdue aircraft that took off from an Anchorage airport. It was believed that the aircraft went up the Knik River Valley toward the Knik Glacier and Lake George before heading into Chugach State Park, according to the online state trooper dispatch.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center dispatched Civil Air Patrol aircraft to survey the area in addition to a number of good Samaritan aircraft, one of which spotted wreckage at 10:43 p.m. that night in a steep mountainous area of the Eagle River Valley and was able to land nearby.
Volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group and HELO 3 6:00 p.m. Tuesday recovered the bodies of the individuals who were inside the crashed aircraft. They were identified as 23-year-old Dakota Bauder of Anchorage and 27-year-old McKenna Vierra of Hawaii. The occupants of the overdue aircraft were discovered to be deceased, when a good Samaritan aircraft arrived.
Next of kin has been notified. The NTSB will be conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash.
