'Sheer luck': Plane crashes in Matanuska River; all onboard rescued

From time to time, with all the tragic news and political discourse, people need a story to remind them that there is good in the world. That sometimes, something filled with too many happenstances and coincidences occurs, that it is nothing short of a miracle, even in our own backyard. Or in this case, the unforgiving Matanuska River.

On May 28, around 6:30 pm, Wasilla MATCOM received a number of calls reporting that a plane had crashed into the Matanuska River. One caller, Amber Sanchez, was riding with her boyfriend down the Glenn Highway, heading into Anchorage, when she noticed a plane flying low with its landing gear down.

“I thought, ‘there’s no airport around here and no landing strips,’ and it (the plane) was headed towards the mountains, but wasn’t flying high enough,” she said in a Facebook interview.

Sanchez credits her observations to a video game, Grand Theft Auto 5, that she had recently been playing, in helping her recognize the plane in distress.

“There’s a mission where you have to land a plane, so I recognized the plane landing, but where? So, I called MATCOM, but there was no answer, so I called 911.”

She says she reported the plane flying low, looking as if it was landing but mentioned that there was nowhere to land, that she didn’t see smoke, or a crash.

In fact, the plane did crash into the Matanuska River. In a dispatch shared online and social media, a plane carrying a family of three, including a 7-month-old infant, crashed into the Matanuska River near mile 99 of the Glenn Highway, reportedly landing upside down and sinking.

Luckily, there were people nearby who witnessed the crash and jumped into action. It is reported that Brett Winterbottom of Glacier View swam into the river after tethering himself to his ATV. His actions saved both the baby and an adult male.

In another marvelous occurrence, Winterbottom was able to pass the baby to a nurse who happened to be visiting Alaska and was nearby. Tammy Saunders, from Texas, was on hand and able to immediately assist with medical care for the infant.

The third occupant of the plane, a female, became separated and was able to swim to shore on the opposite side of the river. And in yet another miracle, another citizen arrived in a helicopter, collected her, and reunited her with family.

The dispatch reports that LifeMed responded to the scene and transported the female and the infant to the hospital.

“Imagine the sheer luck of landing in a remote part of the river, and an ATV with a rope just happens to be there,” said Sanchez.

The story has been shared over 1000 times and received over 3000 “likes,” with many commenting on the bravery of selflessness of those who stepped in to help, thanking those volunteers, a sense of hope and miracles, and an overwhelming sense of pride in Alaskans, best summed up by Sanchez:

“That’s what I love about Alaska; it’s that the community is always there to help people, no matter what.”

The dispatch reports that AST would like to thank the citizens who provided immediate rescue efforts and saved these three individuals.