Anchorage man dies in float plane crash near Big Lake

Over the weekend, Mat-Com received reports that a float plane had crashed into Butterfly Lake, which lies approximately 10 miles west of Big Lake. The remote lake, not accessible by any connected roads

According to the online dispatch, an adult female occupant of the aircraft was able swim to shore with non-life threatening injuries and was able to get help nearby. The female reported that her husband was the pilot and was believed to be deceased and still in the submerged cockpit after the crash. There were no other occupants and the aircraft itself wasn’t located at that time. Life Med responded for the female and transported her to the hospital for her injuries.

Meanwhile, search efforts to the remote lake, which cannot be accessed by roads, were halted overnight due to darkness, and resumed the following morning, when an Alaska Wildlife Trooper (AWT) float cub provided assistance with search and recovery efforts, and Helo 3 provided transportation to dive members to the remote location for body recovery.

Helo 3 and AWT troopers in a float cub arrived on scene with dive team members out of Anchorage, locating the partially submerged airplane on East Butterfly Lake, which is adjacent to Butterfly Lake.

The pilot, identified as Paul Spiro, age 70, of Anchorage, was recovered deceased in the cockpit of the aircraft, and has been transferred to Anchorage, where the State Medical Examiner took custody of the body for autopsy. Next of kin has been notified. All searchers are out of the field. NTSB and the FAA has been notified.

This is the latest in a number of aircraft crashes and incidents in the MSB. Earlier this year, a Stinson 108 aircraft crashed near the Dilley Estates in Houston. The site of the crash was on private property near a home at the end of Backhaus Street. Multiple people saw the plane going down and immediately went to the scene on snowmachines and ATVs. The pilot and a passenger suffered minor injuries.

On April 21, 2024, the Alaska Wildlife Troopers responded to the Talkeetna Airport for a report of an aircraft incident. According to investigation, a Cessna 120 single-engine aircraft reported that it had lost power shortly after takeoff. The pilot was able to navigate the aircraft back towards the Talkeetna Airport, but was forced to land on the snow adjacent to the runway. According to the online dispatch, just before coming to a stop, the aircraft nosed over and came to rest on its roof. The pilot, and sole occupant, reported no injuries to Troopers. The aircraft sustained minor damage and was able to be towed away.

In July, a flightseeing tour based in Talkeetna had to make an emergency landing inside Denali National Park and Preserve when it reported that it had lost power. The aircraft, carrying nine people including the pilot, had lost power and made a forced landing adjacent to the Tokositna Glacier. There were no reported injuries.

More recently, a man died in a plane crash in September when his experimental plane that resembles a Piper PA 12 crashed in a residential neighborhood in Wasilla. That man, later identified as Jon Bergstedt, 71, Anchorage, had reportedly modified his aircraft and was taking it out for its maiden flight when witnesses said they heard the crash and saw the plane on fire, according to the NTSB.

Contact the Frontiersman at news@frontiersman.com.