Wasilla man killed in plane crash

PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND — The family of a Wasilla man who died in a Prince William Sound plane crash will use donated memorial funds for aviation safety, they said Saturday.

Officials with the 11th Air Force Rescue Coordination Center received a mayday call from the pilot as he was flying over the Sound Tuesday afternoon. The center contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, which led a search effort involving Air Force and Coast Guard personnel, Alaska State Troopers and a Good Samaritan vessel.

Family members later identified the pilot as Dale Carlson, 53, of Wasilla, and a former resident of Eagle River and Fairbanks. Carlson was out flying recreationally Tuesday afternoon, his brother, Gene Carlson, said. Dale Carlson was using a GPS tracking device to update family about his whereabouts via e-mail. The device sends updates about once every two minutes via e-mail or mobile devices, Gene Carlson said.

The device indicated some difficulty about 2 p.m., Gene Carlson said. Dale’s initial mayday put him in the area of Perry Island, according to Gene Carlson. The GPS device records showed Dale had attempted to make a beeline to nearby Culross Island, which provided better prospects for a safe landing. Culross Island is where Coast Guard officials recovered his body and portions of the wreckage of his Cessna 180.

It was only after family members provided Coast Guard officials with access to the information being kept by the Spidertracks GPS device that they refocused their search efforts on Culross Island.

“He had it set up to where his wife and his son and I got it automatically whenever he flew,” Gene Carlson said.

“I will tell you honestly, I wholeheartedly believe, that if it had not been for that Spidertracks, we would not have been able to bring him home.”

Dale Carlson was an avid aviator who had been flying since he was 17 years old, Gene Carlson said.

“He had a real passion for flying,” he said.

Dale Carlson also had deep-seated passions for trap shooting, golfing, hunting, fly fishing, outdoor pursuits, and his family, particularly his adult son, John, and his wife, Heather.

“He was a very loving father, husband, brother, son,” he said. “He was a friend to many people.”

A celebration of life will be held 4:30 p.m., April 24 at The Crossing, 22208 Birchwood Loop Road, Chugiak.

The family is determined to bring something positive out of the tragedy, taking steps to help other families find at least a measure of certainty after losing a loved one in an aviation disaster. Donations made to the Dale Carlson memorial bank account, No. 31120918, will be donated to a program designed to purchase GPS devices for pilots learning how to fly, Gene Carlson said.

“I give my nephew credit for that one,” he said.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the date of the celebration of life.