Pilot with Valley connections dies in crash

EUREKA — A plane crash in the Eureka area Thursday evening claimed the life of a former Valley resident.

Michael S. Zobel, 41, of Anchorage, was piloting the plane when it crashed. A friend of his saw it go down and reported it to emergency dispatchers at 7:54 p.m.

Alaska State Troopers report that LifeMed air ambulance was able to get to the crash and confirmed Zobel had died. Weather prevented troopers from getting there both Thursday and Friday.

“The hunting party that witnessed the wreck and stayed on scene have received permission from the State Medical Examiner’s Office to remove the body from the scene and transport the remains out of the field. Arrangements will be made with the SME to take possession, and then transport the remains to Anchorage for autopsy,” according to an AST press release.

Zobel graduated from Wasilla High School in 1989 and has family in the area. He also worked in the Valley for a time.

“He is a former trooper. He worked with us from 2002 to 2006 in Palmer and Northway,” AST spokeswoman Megan Peters wrote in an email Friday.

Though fall is only just starting, it’s been a particularly dangerous one for Valley aviators. Most recently, Cole Hawkins, 28, of Chugiak, and Richard Novotny, 29, of Wasilla, survived a crash in Rainy Pass on Tuesday. Before that, three men died last week in two separate crashes.

On Aug. 29, Adam Norton, 30, and Derrick Swanson, 31, died in a crash during an excursion to the Knik Lake area. The two were brothers-in-law.

Their plane was reported overdue and the wreckage spotted from the air six hours later 10 miles north of Sutton. Weather, terrain and “the condition of the wreckage” hampered rescue efforts, troopers said at the time.

On Aug. 30, again in Rainy Pass, a pilot died and his passenger suffered minor injuries in a crash just after takeoff.

The pilot, Scott Mueller, 58, of Big Lake, and the passenger, Traiger Anderson, 30, of Wasilla, were uncle and nephew and had been in the pass as part of a hunting party involving two planes. Only the PA-18 Super Cub Mueller piloted went down.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or

andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.