Southeastern flying community mourns pilots killed in Fairweather Mountains

A small plane carrying three passengers from Juneau to Yakutat disappeared over the weekend, sparking a search and rescue effort that has so far left more questions than answers.

Samuel “Sam” Wright, a veteran pilot from Haines with decades of experience navigating the Southeast, took off from Juneau on Saturday. On board were Hans Munich and Tanya Hutchins, a couple returning to Yakutat after a trip. Munich is also an experienced pilot. He and Hutchins run a charter flight company.

The first alarm was raised when the plane, a 1948 Beechcraft Bonanza, failed to arrive at its destination. Coast Guard spokeswoman Shannon Kearney said the agency received a call about a late-arriving plane at 5:40 p.m. Saturday. The agency put out a maritime broadcast just after 6 p.m. and dispatched the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark about a half hour later.

They quickly launched an MH-60T helicopter from Sitka and a C-130 from Kodiak, working with Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center to search for the plane. Searchers scoured the Fairweather Mountain Range, concentrating their efforts at Mount Crillon on the south side, where the plane’s radar signal abruptly stopped.

“The flight log stops at about 10,000 feet,” said Mike Salerno, public affairs officer for the Coast Guard. “I can tell you that search equipment encounters a lot of cloud cover at that altitude.”

The search continued into its third day on Monday, and at one point the Civil Air Patrol reported finding something, but the Coast Guard was unable to verify that and ultimately decided to call off the search that evening, Salerno said.

“It’s a very mountainous area,” Salerno said, “and the altitude combined with the cloud cover affects the visual search.”

In the close-knit aviation community, the news is devastating, especially in the remote communities of Southeast Alaska, which often rely on planes and ferries to get around and get their jobs done.

“Hans and Tanya have been vital to the bear research program over the past 15 years,” said Anthony Crupi, bear research biologist with Fish and Game. “Their friendship and contributions to brown bear conservation will be greatly missed.”

Andy Hedden, owner and manager of Haines Rafting Company, said he has also worked with Hans and Tanya for the past 15 years. Their company provided bush flights for his rafting groups arriving at Dry Bay on the Alsek River.

“Hans was one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen. He was a hard worker and took such good care of his plane,” Hedden said. “He was one of the most reliable pilots out there. Tanya was the friendly voice that took reservations and kept us updated when the flights were leaving. The two of them provided flight services for a number of lodges, fishing and adventure companies. They will be greatly missed.”

Friends and family of Haines said Wright is known not only for his flying skills, but also for his warm demeanor, jokes and because he was a familiar face at Fort Seward, where he was a gunner at ceremonial events — from the fort’s lighting, marking the start of the holiday season, to the Fourth of July explosion of the Bloomer, when people in town would place bets on how far a pair of pairs of underpants would fly if he shot them out of the cannon.

“He’s a really nice guy. We’re all going to miss him,” said Terry Pardee, a longtime friend who flew with Wright often.

Bill Thomas, another good friend who had also flown extensively with Wright, remembered their experiences fondly.

“He was a good friend,” Thomas said.

Thomas, who served in the state Legislature from 2005 to 2013, said he got to know Wright because the pilot worked for Wings Airways and often flew him back and forth to Juneau. He joked that it felt like Wright was his personal jet service.

“Something like that. We always laughed about it. He would leave in the morning, and I would enjoy it, and he would come back in the evening,” he said.

Thomas was an aircraft mechanic’s crew chief in Vietnam and said he felt safe during flights with Wright.

“I enjoyed flying with Sam because he took good care of his airplanes,” Thomas said. “He did an honest preflight, I would call it, and he knew what to look for.”

As the search continued and its suspension, Wright’s partner Annette Smith said the community rallied behind the families and friends of those on board.

“Haines is a great community where people come together when there is a problem or tragedy and I am really grateful for that,” Smith said.

Wright’s son is in town, and Smith said her sister is on her way. And despite the suspension of the official search, there’s still hope among Wright’s loved ones that he might come home after all. Smith said her ideal solution would be to find the wreckage and retrieve him.

“But the practical side of it – I’m a very practical person – is elusive,” she said.

She said Wright’s family and Munich’s family are talking about continuing the search on their own.

“We will decide what to do next, it’s a matter of step by step,” she said.

But, she said, Wright and Munich were seasoned pilots and would understand the decision-making process.

“Sam has been flying since he was a teenager,” she said. “They know what they’re up against.”