Medevac debris, body found near Whittier

[Rollie Parrish]

Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate the help!

On Dec 9, 2007 8:54 AM, Brian A. Bell <usajet at gmail.com> wrote:


> Medevac debris, body found near Whittier

> http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/9508090p-9418662c.html

>

>  NEAR WHITTIER: Helicopter had 4 on board when it went missing.

>

> By LISA DEMER <http://www.adn.com/contact/ldemer/index.html>

> ldemer at adn.com

>

> Published: December 9, 2007

> Last Modified: December 9, 2007 at 07:24 AM

>

> The body of a person from a missing air ambulance along with wreckage was

> found in Passage Canal near Whittier on Saturday afternoon, and the search

> for the three people still missing continues, Alaska State Troopers said.

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> The body of flight nurse John Stumpff, 47, of Sterling was located around

> 1:35 p.m. after washing up on shore near the debris, said Megan Peters,

> trooper spokeswoman.

>

> A crew on an Alaska Air National Guard Pave Hawk helicopter spotted debris

> that they immediately suspected was from the missing LifeGuard helicopter,

> said McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the state Department of Military and

> Veterans Affairs, which includes the National Guard.

>

> The Pave Hawk got closer, and the crew confirmed there was wreckage and

> human remains, he said.

>

> Both the remains and the debris -- which included the left sliding door

> from

> the LifeGuard helicopter -- were found on the north side of Passage Canal,

> which leads into Whittier, Pierre said. The door was the only piece

> immediately identifiable, he said.

>

> It's not yet known where the LifeGuard helicopter went down. It vanished

> Monday evening about 40 minutes into a scheduled 90-minute flight between

> Cordova and Anchorage. The crew failed to make two regular 10-minute

> position updates and the helicopter was reported missing. Last known

> contact

> was at 5:18 p.m.

>

> The debris was found along the likely route, Pierre said.

>

> "That's the flight pattern that people take to go through Portage Pass"

> and

> on into Anchorage, he said.

>

> Still missing: pilot Lance Brabham, 42, of Soldotna; paramedic Cameron

> Carter, 24, of Kenai and the Butte; and patient Gaye McDowell, 60, of

> Cordova.

>

> McDowell, co-owner of the Cordova Rose Lodge, was on her way to Providence

> Alaska Medical Center to be treated for complications after breast cancer

> surgery.

>

> Families have been updated and next of kin for Stumpff has been notified,

> troopers said.

>

> "We are just an organization in mourning at this point. While we are still

> hopeful, we are very deeply in mourning over the loss of our colleague,

> John

> Stumpff," said Becky Hultberg, a spokeswoman for Providence Alaska Medical

> Center, which includes LifeGuard.

>

> Stumpff came to Alaska about five years ago as a traveling nurse. He was

> based in Nome before moving to the Kenai Peninsula, a friend has said. He

> bought a place in Sterling with no running water or electricity but added

> both.

>

> Troopers weren't ready to give up hope on the three still missing, but

> Peters acknowledged "it doesn't look promising."

>

> "We keep praying for them," said Butte fire chief Charles Von Gunten.

> Carter

> grew up in the Butte, started volunteering with the Butte Fire Department

> as

> a teen, and still went on fire runs when he was in the area.

>

> "It doesn't look good but maybe the other people made it onto a beach and

> they're just waiting to be picked up," Von Gunten said.

>

> "Our folks always assume that people are living until we know otherwise,"

> Pierre said.

>

> Details were sparse Saturday evening. Peters said that troopers are trying

> to piece together what happened and that more information should come out

> on

> today.

>

> "This is by no means the end of the search effort. They are making

> arrangements and plans to see what needs to be done tomorrow," Peters

> said.

> Searchers headed in when it got dark Saturday and the effort was to resume

> at first light today, she said.

>

> The debris is being turned over to the National Transportation Safety

> Board

> for its investigation into what went wrong.

>

> It has been a massive search hampered by bad weather.

>

> Midday Saturday, the ceiling lifted to about 1,000 feet, giving searchers

> much better visibility, Pierre said.

>

> Once searchers in the Pave Hawk confirmed they had found a body, they went

> to Whittier and picked up troopers to take them to the scene, he said.

> Troopers also sent boats to the area. Stumpff's body has been turned over

> to

> the State Medical Examiner's Office.

>

> The Alaska Air National Guard has had a C-130 on the scene as well as the

> Pave Hawk helicopter. The U.S. Coast Guard earlier launched the cutter

> Sycamore, but it returned to Cordova on Friday to restock and refuel. A

> Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter also was searching on Saturday, as was the

> trooper helicopter known as Helo-1, Pierre said at midday.

>

> A fleet of small, private aluminum fishing boats from Whittier has helped

> in

> the search, as have volunteer pilots in the Valdez Civil Air Patrol. The

> Alaska Railroad sent snowmachines out after a motorist on the Seward

> Highway

> reported seeing something on Spencer Glacier, but that turned up nothing.

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-- 
Rollie Parrish
rparrish at flightweb.com