NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, August 23, 2010

INCIDENTS

Katmai NP&P

Search Underway For Missing Plane With Employees Aboard

A major search is underway for a missing aircraft with four people on board that has been missing since Saturday afternoon. The single engine floatplane, a DeHavilland Beaver operated by Branch River Air Service in King Salmon, carried the pilot and three National Park Service maintenance employees - Mason McLeod, 26, and brothers Neal Spradlin, 28, and Seth Spradlin, 20. The name of the pilot is not being released pending the notification of his family.

Two planes owned by the air service flew to Swikshak Lagoon early on Saturday afternoon and picked up the maintenance crew that had been working there, preparing for the reconstruction of an old ranger station. The Beaver left at 1:45 p.m.; the second plane, with two people on board, left 15 minutes later. The second plane arrived in King Salmon in an hour, but the pilot had to fly much of the way 500 feet above the ground due to deteriorating weather conditions. The Beaver never arrived, and no radio or emergency locator transmitter transmissions were received. An emergency response was launched by the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at Elmendorf AFB near Anchorage. A C-130 from Anchorage and a Coast Guard helicopter searched the area until 11 p.m. Saturday, but found nothing. Search efforts yesterday afternoon and evening focused on a wide and rugged area between King Salmon and the park's Pacific coast, particularly in several river valleys that drain into Kamishak Bay on the park's northern boundary. The expectation was that the plane would have flown up one of the valleys, then along Kulik Lake west toward King Salmon. Six airplanes searched through the afternoon and evening, including two each from the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Alaska State Troopers. Two helicopters from Egli Air Haul in King Salmon also joined the search. Local businesses, private lodges, and floatplane operators have been extremely generous in providing assistance in multiple ways, including the provision of services and personnel to aid in the search effort. [John Quinley, Public Affairs Officer, Alaska Region]

HYPERLINK "http://www.adn.com/2010/08/22/1419913/plane-with-4-on-board-missing.html" http://www.adn.com/2010/08/22/1419913/plane-with-4-on-board-missing.html

Gulf Island NS

Private Plane Makes Forced Landing In Park

The pilot of a single-engine Cessna 172 was forced to make an emergency landing on a highway in the Santa Rosa area of the park early on the morning of Thursday, August 19th. Neither of the occupants - pilot trainee K.M. and instructor C.C. - was injured. K.M., who was on his third day of flight training, was at the controls and practicing maneuvers to deal with various in-flight emergencies when the engine actually started sputtering. Casey immediately took the controls and glided the plane down to a landing on J. Earle Bowden Way, avoiding numerous signs as he taxied the plane into a parking lot. Nobody was in the area and there was no damage to any park property. The mechanical problem was fixed, and, following consultation with an FAA agent, the plane was allowed to take off. Rangers and personnel from other agencies closed down the highway until the Cessna was safely airborne. [Larry T. Edwards, Park Ranger]

Lake Mead NRA

Body Of Cliff Diver Recovered From Lake Mohave

Park personnel, assisted by Las Vegas Metro Police Department divers, recovered the body of an 18-year-old man from the waters of Lake Mohave near Placer Cove Saturday night. Several friends were diving from cliffs near the cove when the victim jumped in from a height of about 30 feet and failed to resurface. A friend who dove in right after him didn't know that he was still in the area and struck him when he hit the water. The man then began to sink. Three other friends jumped in to rescue him, but found that he was sinking too fast to reach him. Divers recovered the body in about 50 feet of water around 10:30 that evening. The coroner will be determining the cause of death. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Glen Canyon NRA - Following three years of extensive monitoring, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has determined that Lake Powell is completely free of invasive zebra and quagga mussels.

Midwest Region - Hugh Dougher, regional chief ranger for Midwest Region, will be retiring at the end of August following 34 years of exceptional federal service with three land management agencies.

NPS incident submission standards can be found online at the HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" serious incident notification web page.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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