A former Kenai Peninsula school employee is among the two victims identified in Monday’s fatal plane crash near Nanwalek.
Alaska State Troopers confirmed that 48-year-old Homer resident Daniel Bunker, the pilot of the flight, and 37-year-old Anchorage resident Jenny Miller were killed when a small commercial plane went down near the Nanwalek airstrip. A third person survived with serious injuries.
Bunker was a former staff member at Paul Banks Elementary School in Homer. Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland said Bunker was deeply loved in the community.
“Dan was a former paraprofessional at Paul Banks Elementary School, working with special needs students. He was a great man,” Holland said. “Loved by a lot of people in Homer, and he’s going to be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in that wreck, with our staff and everyone else who was on the scene immediately and rendered assistance, and to everyone in Nanwalek and Homer, as well as Dan’s family and the families of everyone else impacted by this tragedy.”
In a video made by Randolph USA in January, Bunker spoke about his passion for flying and his journey to aviation.
“It wasn’t until I came to Alaska that I really started to pursue aviation,” he said. “I started guiding for film crews and I figured, you know what, I better start working on my flying here. This is something that is essential for being in Alaska and doing what I do. It just opens up a whole new realm to explore the vast beauty of Alaska.”
The crash occurred Monday afternoon when a single-engine Cessna 207 operated by Smokey Bay Air crashed shortly after taking off from Homer. Troopers say the plane went down near the Nanwalek airstrip just before 2 p.m., prompting multiple 911 calls.
First responders and community members in Nanwalek were the first to reach the scene, providing aid to all three occupants. Bunker and Miller were pronounced dead, and the surviving passenger was medevaced to an Anchorage hospital.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, with an investigator arriving in Nanwalek Monday to document the scene and gather witness statements. Officials say the plane was flying a regularly scheduled Part 135 commercial route.
Troopers thanked Guardian Flight, LifeMed, Maritime Helicopters, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Alaska State Park Rangers for assisting in the response.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Cover photo credit: Randolph USA Facebook Page
