Weather hampers rescue

MAT-SU — Whiteout conditions on Knik Glacier Monday evening were keeping rescuers from reaching five people stranded in a small plane that crashed there about 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

The small plane took off from Palmer Airport for a short sight-seeing trip midday Sunday with the pilot, Donald Erbey, 49, Wasilla, and four visitors from Texas on board, said Maj. Guy Hays, public affairs officer for the Alaska National Guard. At about 1 p.m. Sunday, the plane began transmitting an emergency locator signal, he said.

No one on board is injured, but the group faced spending another night on the glacier Monday if weather conditions didn’t improve, Hays said.

“Folks in the HC-130 (search plane) were able to talk to the pilot of the aircraft and he said they’re all hunkered down inside the aircraft,” Hays said. “Everybody’s OK. It’s about 45 degrees inside the aircraft, but it’s whiteout conditions outside.”

A pair of aircraft continue to circle above the area waiting for a window to land a rescue helicopter, Hays said. Also, a four-person ground crew is making its way slowly toward the crash site pulling sleds with survival gear. By noon Monday, the ground crew reported being about a mile from the site, but weather and terrain have hindered that progress, he said.

“They’re dealing with the same whiteout conditions and moving really slow,” he said. “I know they’re dealing with crevasses with sleds full of gear.”

Back in Palmer, Donald’s parents, Roland and Beverly Erbey, were waiting for Don to arrive home safely.

“They know help is on the way,” said Erbey’s mother, Beverly Erbey, Monday evening. “They’re going to be rescued.”

When the Erbeys were notified the ELT had been activated on Roland’s Piper Cherokee Six, they knew Don was in trouble. They called the Palmer Flight Service Center, but no one had any luck reaching the plane.

“We were beginning to have a real strong feeling they were down,” Beverly said. “That was terrifying.”

Don’s wife, Cynthia, and their two daughters gathered with the elder Erbeys, waiting for news. Don and the Texas guests, who are the children and grandchildren of an unidentified Wasilla man, were wearing light clothes. Beverly Erbey said the emergency kit, which is generally in her husband’s six-seater plane, wasn’t put back in the craft after it was cleaned out.

“I’m frustrated that they are up there and it is here in the garage,” she said. That, she says, is the last time that will happen, if she has anything to say about it.

A pilot from Eagle River helped provide the Erbeys with good news about 4 p.m. Sunday. Chuck Podolak was taking a friend on a sightseeing jaunt from Birchwood Airport when he got word passing through Palmer airspace that an ELT had been activated at coordinates near Knik Glacier. They headed up toward the glacier and picked up Don Erbey on the radio.

“He sounded in good spirits,” Podolak said. Erbey provided information on his condition and that of his passengers and plane, and Podolak relayed information back to Erbey from the rescuers on their progress.

Podolak said his Bellanca Scout was among as many as 10 aircraft searching for signs of the downed plane, and said the messages were the efforts of several pilots lending a hand to relay them back and forth to Palmer.

“It was a whole host of people helping out,” Podolak said. “We were just keeping them company until they (rescuers) got there.”

Podolak said he could see Erbey’s plane near the top of Knik Glacier near the mountain pass on the highest location on the glacier, but couldn’t assess the damage to the plane.

“The weather was just too bad to see the crash site,” he said.

The Erbeys said they also haven’t heard if the plane is salvageable.

“We’re glad to hear they’re safe,” said Roland Erbey. “To hell with the airplane.”

Preliminary word is the weather may have had a factor in the crash.

“From what I heard, they hit a downdraft and it caused the plane to get pushed down and crash on the glacier,” Hays said.

By staying put inside the downed aircraft, Erbey and his passengers are handling the situation well, Hays said. “Really, what they’re doing now is the right thing to do — stay in the aircraft, not burn energy and stay warm.”

For now, the National Guard will continue to circle above the crash site, Hays said.

“That’s what we’re doing, circling the area for that opportunity to get in there,” he said. “If not, we’re hoping the ground team gets there and they’ll wait out the weather.”