Small plane crashes near remote Alaska village; 4 killed, 6 survive

  Alaska Dept. of Public SafetyThis photo, provided by the state of Alaska, shows wreckage from the Cessna 208 operated by Hageland Aviation that crashed near St. Marys village on Friday. By Simon Moya-Smith and Jay Blackman, Staff Writers, NBC NewsFour people were killed -- including an infant -- and six injured after a small commercial flight crashed Friday near a remote village in western Alaska, police said. After failing to revive her newborn, the mother then walked nearly a mile to seek help, police said.The pilot and three passengers died in the Friday night crash near the village of St. Marys, Megan Peters, a spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers, said Saturday.The dead were identified as pilot Terry Hansen, Rose Polty and Richard Polty and the infant, Wyatt Coffee.Peters said she had no immediate word on the six survivors' condition.The single-engine, turboprop Cessna 208 was a Hageland Aviation flight from Bethel to Mountain Village and Saint Marys, said Kathy Roser, a spokeswoman for Era Alaska airline. Hageland is part of Era Alaska.Jim Hickerson, president of Hageland Aviation, told the Anchorage Daily News the six survivors were injured.The wreckage was found about 4 miles east of Saint Marys. Troopers and an air ambulance service responded to the scene, Peters said.The survivors are Melanie Coffee, Pauline Johnson, Kylan Johnson, Tonya Lawrence, Garrett Moses and Shannon Lawrence.Coffee unsuccessfully tried to revive her newborn baby and then walked nearly a mile to lead searchers to the wreckage site.Village Police Officer Fred Lamont Jr. said Saint Marys responders received word of the crash when Coffee of Mountain Village called a village health aide seeking help in resuscitating her newborn.Lamont says Coffee considered starting a fire to attract searchers but finally just walked to lights near the community landfill, where she met searchers.An emergency locator beacon signal helped pinpoint the crash site, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson said.There was no immediate word on what caused the crash. The NTSB told NBC News that it would send two investigators to investigate the accident.The temperature in the area Friday night was about 18 degrees.Saint Marys, with a population of about 500, is roughly 470 miles from Anchorage.NBC News' Tom Costello and Justin Kirschner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Infant among 4 killed when small plane crashes near Alaska village

   Alaska Dept. of Public SafetyThis photo, provided by the state of Alaska, shows wreckage from the Cessna 208 operated by Hageland Aviation that crashed near St. Marys village on Friday. By Simon Moya-Smith and Jay Blackman, Staff Writers, NBC NewsFour people were killed -- including an infant -- and six injured after a small commercial flight crashed Friday near a remote village in western Alaska, police said. After failing to revive her newborn, the mother then walked nearly a mile to seek help, police said.The pilot and three passengers died in the Friday night crash near the village of St. Marys, Megan Peters, a spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers, said Saturday.The dead were identified as pilot Terry Hansen, Rose Polty and Richard Polty and the infant, Wyatt Coffee.Peters said she had no immediate word on the six survivors' condition.The single-engine, turboprop Cessna 208 was a Hageland Aviation flight from Bethel to Mountain Village and Saint Marys, said Kathy Roser, a spokeswoman for Era Alaska airline. Hageland is part of Era Alaska.Jim Hickerson, president of Hageland Aviation, told the Anchorage Daily News the six survivors were injured.The wreckage was found about 4 miles east of Saint Marys. Troopers and an air ambulance service responded to the scene, Peters said.The survivors are Melanie Coffee, Pauline Johnson, Kylan Johnson, Tonya Lawrence, Garrett Moses and Shannon Lawrence.Coffee unsuccessfully tried to revive her newborn baby and then walked nearly a mile to lead searchers to the wreckage site.Village Police Officer Fred Lamont Jr. said Saint Marys responders received word of the crash when Coffee of Mountain Village called a village health aide seeking help in resuscitating her newborn.Lamont says Coffee considered starting a fire to attract searchers but finally just walked to lights near the community landfill, where she met searchers.An emergency locator beacon signal helped pinpoint the crash site, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson said.There was no immediate word on what caused the crash. The NTSB told NBC News that it would send two investigators to investigate the accident.The temperature in the area Friday night was about 18 degrees.Saint Marys, with a population of about 500, is roughly 470 miles from Anchorage.NBC News' Tom Costello and Justin Kirschner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Body believed to be that of missing plane passenger

aThe body of the passenger who reportedly fell out of a small plane into the ocean near Key Biscayne has likely been found, according to Miami-Dade Police.Police said they presume a body found in a mangrove area just south of SW 184 Street at 10:30 a.m. Saturday is 42-year-old Gerardo Nales, but authorities said they are waiting for official identification from the Medical Examiner's Office.Nales fell out of Piper PA46 Thursday about eight miles southeast of Tamiami Airport with no parachute, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.The pilot was identified to NBC 6 as Felipe Fons, a student at Dean's International Aviation flight school at Tamiami Airport. Police have not indicated any evidence of foul play and the pilot was very cooperative with the investigation, authorities said.

Search winding down for man who reportedly fell from plane off Florida coast

a By Julia Bagg and Brian Hamacher, NBCMiami.comRescue crews continued searching Friday for the passenger of a small plane who reportedly fell out into the ocean near Key Biscayne.Miami-Dade Police and U.S. Coast Guard crews expanded the search for the passenger, identified by police as 42-year-old Gerardo Nales, who fell out of a Piper PA46 on Thursday. Authorities searched by sea and air from Haulover Beach south to Turkey Point because of currents and weather conditions.The search stopped at nightfall and will resume Saturday. That will be the last day of the recovery effort, police said.The pilot said his passenger fell about eight miles southeast of Tamiami Airport with no parachute, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.NBC 6 learned the pilot of the aircraft was Felipe Fons. He has attended Dean's International Aviation, a flight school at Tamiami Airport.Lance Hyatt, a ground service worker at the school, said he saw Fons and what he believed was Nales heading to the plane on Thursday.Hear mayday call from pilotFons is being interviewed by police and the FAA. NBC 6 spoke with a woman at his home on Friday but she would not put him on the phone and eventually hung up.Police have not indicated any evidence of foul play and the pilot was very cooperative with the investigation, authorities said.Authorities have not released the identity of the pilot.“Felipe is a cool dude," Hyatt said of Fons. "He's quiet for the most part but he always had a smile on his face.”Fons would come in, do his flight and leave, Hyatt added.Psychic gambled away grieving woman's $100K: CopsThe plane, which was about 2,000 feet in the air at the time of the incident, later landed safely at the airport, and a massive search by sea and air began. The search had been postponed Thursday night because of bad weather and poor visibility.Miami-Dade Police aviation and marine units, along with other local agencies, were searching for the man on Friday.In the mayday call to air traffic controllers posted on the website LiveATC.net, the pilot reported the bizarre incident."I have a door ajar, and a passenger that fell down. I am six miles from Tamiami," the pilot said.A little later in the exchange, the air traffic controller asks: "So you said you had a passenger who fell out of your plane?""That is correct, sir. He opened the back door, and he just fall down the plane," the pilot said.The plane took off from a local airport, located at 12800 SW 137th Ave. in Miami.NBC 6 obtained manuals for the Piper aircraft that show how the door is closed and secured.One instructor pilot at Dean’s International Aviation, where Fons got his commercial and instrument certifications, said securing the door would have been one of the first items done before the plane made it to the runway for takeoff.“Part of the preflight preparation would have been to secure that door and even if it wasn't secure in flight, you could remedy the situation,” Humberto Perez said.