Just before noon on November 27 Alaska State Troopers were notified of a plane crash on the west side of the Cook Inlet, almost directly across from Nikiski.
Clint Johnson with the National Transportation Safety Board in Anchorage detailed what they know so far.
Johnson: “Keep in mind things are very very preliminary at this point but what we understand now is that two folks were on board this Piper Super Cub while it was landing at an off airport site on the other side of the inlet from Nikiski. We understand is that the accident took place while landing or on approach to landing and what the pilot was able to report to Troopers once the folks were able to get to Kenai at the hospital is the airplane experienced a loss of engine power so right now our investigators are centering in on the cause of that loss of engine power.”
Initially Tim DeSpain with the Troopers said another plane spotted the wreckage and two injured people from the air and reported it to the Troopers.
AST investigation revealed the airplane was a PA-18 Super Cub owned by Alaska West Air which is based in Nikiski. The pilot was Brad Adams, age 55, of Soldotna. The only passenger was a 16 year old male from Kenai.
Adams suffered from serious but non-life threatening injuries. The juvenile male was treated and released for minor injuries.
Johnson said the NTSB has not been able to talk with Adams yet for an update on how he is doing.
Johnson: “His health comes first, so hopefully at some point in time we’ll be able to talk with him directly and get a little more of a first hand account of what took place but at this point right now we have not had a chance to talk to him.”