Two killed in Cessna 185 crash near Aniak, troopers say

Two men died when a Cessna 185 crashed after taking off from a moose camp near Aniak, the Alaska State Troopers said.

Troopers identified the pilot as 34-year-old Nicholas Peters of Eagle River and the passenger as 50-year-old John "Jack" Ervin of Missouri. Both were killed. Troopers said next of kin have been notified.

The Department of Public Safety received the crash report at 12:21 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15. Troopers said they are working to reach the site, but poor weather is blocking flight operations. The account is preliminary and comes only from trooper dispatch, which does not describe what caused the crash.

Troopers said they have notified the National Transportation Safety Board.

The crash follows a run of fatal aviation accidents in Alaska this summer. Alaska News previously reported on a Security Aviation Cessna 441 that crashed on approach to the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site in August, killing two pilots and six passengers. Troopers found three people dead in wreckage at the Dan Creek airstrip near McCarthy after reaching the site on July 28. A separate Cessna 185 flipped while landing at Aniak in April. Its pilot and passenger were not hurt.

The pattern lands hardest on Alaska's air-taxi and bush-flying community. Its operators depend on short windows of good weather, remote strips and fast incident response. Each crash brings fresh scrutiny of their operating practices.