Bush pilot legend finally gets his due

By CASEY RESSLER -- Valley Life editor

For crusty Alaskans of long ago, their reputation and legend hinged on their ability to land planes in the fiercest of weather, to get their Cessnas in and out of the remotest of locations and to do it all safely.

Just to be called a pilot wasn't enough. To be called a Bush pilot, well, that was a title that had to be earned. And Joe Crosson did just that. Crosson was a Bush pilot, and a new book written by Dirk Tordoff celebrates that historical and legendary pilot.

Mercy Pilot: The Joe Crosson Story is a new book published by Epicenter Press. It brings to light one of Alaska's unsung heroes.

"We search for heroes as yet unrecognized, and Joe Crosson is one. He was one of the great Bush pilots," said Dee Hanson, executive director of the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum.

Tordoff, a Fairbanks resident, researched Crosson's life while studying at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research for the book helped him earn his master's degree in northern studies at UAF.

Crosson helped pioneer air routes throughout Alaska. In 1929, he made headlines worldwide by flying a long, dangerous search mission to find his friend, Carl Ben Eielson, in the Siberian winter. Eielson had crashed his own plane, and it was Crosson who led the search.

Crosson had several flights that helped shape Alaska -- and helped make him a legendary Bush pilot.

He made a cold, open-cockpit flight to Barrow during the dead of winter, to bring a life-saving serum to the village. Before that heroic flight, the Brooks Range was uncharted. He made the trip without navigational aids or communication tools.

Crosson also had the duty of returning the bodies of Wiley Post and Will Rogers Jr. back from their fatal crash in northern Alaska.

Mercy Pilot is available at bookstores around the state. The softbound, oversized book is $17.95.

The book contains numerous charts, maps and photographs to accompany Tordoff's writings and provide the reader with a clearer picture of the role of Crosson and other Bush pilots in Alaska's history.