Three rescued after float plane crashes in forest near Bettles

Three people survived a floatplane crash in the forest near Bettles and were rescued overnight, reaching a Fairbanks hospital by 1 a.m. on Aug. 19, Alaska State Troopers said. One was seriously injured.

The plane went down on its way back to Bettles — a village about 200 miles northwest of Fairbanks — on Aug. 18. A satellite messaging device kept the occupants in contact after the crash: they used it to send a message to a Bettles lodge owner, who relayed their coordinates to rescuers. The device is likely what made the overnight rescue possible.

Airmen of the Alaska National Guard's 176th Wing flew the rescue in an HH-60W helicopter out of Eielson Air Force Base, lowering pararescuemen down to the crash site to reach the survivors. The Guard identified the downed aircraft as a Cessna 180.

Neither the Guard nor the troopers named the people aboard, the operator, or what caused the crash.