Tour plane makes emergency landing in Denali National Park after losing power; no injuries reported

A pilot and eight passengers on a flightseeing plane in Denali National Park and Preserve were rescued Friday after the aircraft lost power and made an emergency landing in the Alaska Range, the National Park Service said.

The Talkeetna-based plane from K2 Aviation made a forced landing near the Tokositna Glacier around 5 p.m. Friday, according to a written report from the park service on Saturday.

No injuries were reported, the park service said.

The park service said it received a call from K2 around 5 p.m. reporting the plane had lost power and needed to make a forced landing.

“The aircraft managed to make an emergency landing in an area of thick alder bushes near the toe of the glacier in the vicinity of Mount Goldie,” the statement said. The area is northwest of Talkeetna in the southern reaches of the Alaska Range and directly south of Denali, North America’s highest peak.

The park service did not specify the type of plane involved and didn’t immediately respond to a question.

A park service helicopter shuttled the pilot and passengers to a gravel bar at the base of the glacier, the park service said, and help was sought from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Eventually the passengers and pilot were shuttled back to Talkeetna on three helicopters: an HH-60 from JBER with five people, an R44 helicopter from Talkeetna Air Taxi with three and an A-Star helicopter from the park service with one, according to the park service.

“Emergency medical personnel met the helicopters in Talkeetna, and all involved declined medical treatment,” the park service said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident, and the park service said it was working with the NTSB to recover the plane from the area.

K2 is one of several companies that have long flown visitors, including climbers, into the Alaska Range from Talkeetna. In August 2018, a pilot and four passengers on a K2 plane were killed when the aircraft crashed into a mountainside in the region.