Man dies after Cessna 185 crashes and sinks in Blue Fox Bay on Afognak Island

A man died after a Cessna 185 crashed and sank in Blue Fox Bay on Afognak Island on Oct. 20, Alaska State Troopers said in a dispatch posted Friday.

Troopers were notified of the crash at 10:08 am that day. Initial reports said the pilot and one other adult escaped the plane, and a good Samaritan aircraft flew both to Kodiak with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the dispatch.

The third person on board, an adult male, was trapped in the sunken plane. Other good Samaritans pulled his body from the Cessna and brought it back to Kodiak, troopers said. His body will go to the State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. Troopers will release his name once next-of-kin procedures are complete.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash, troopers said. Where the plane took off from, where it was going and what caused the crash were unclear as of late Friday afternoon, NTSB Alaska region spokesperson Millicent Hill said. NTSB investigators will begin examining the wreckage after it is hauled to shore, she said.

The crash came about five weeks after another Cessna 185 crashed near Aniak on Sept. 15, shortly after taking off from a moose camp. That crash killed pilot Nicholas Peters, 34, of Eagle River, and passenger John "Jack" Ervin, 50, of Missouri, troopers said.

At the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Oct. 22, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said Alaska has the highest crash rates in the country, "two and a half times higher than the rest of the country," and the highest aviation death rates. Sullivan said he had the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration commission a report on Alaska aviation safety in 2020. He said the heads of the two agencies have since announced $500 million over the next three years for weather systems, infrastructure, cameras and other upgrades in rural Alaska, meant to make sure "Alaskan pilots and passengers make it home safely every night."