The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the federal agency that investigates transportation accidents across the United States. It examines aviation, marine, highway, rail and pipeline crashes, and frequently investigates small plane and charter crashes across Alaska.
Photo: NTSBgov via Wikimedia Commons · Photo source · Public domain
ntsb.gov ↗222 W 7th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99513, USA
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Kodiak man dies after Cessna 185 crashes and sinks in Afognak Island's Blue Fox Bay
James Osowski, 33, of Kodiak, 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 and updated Saturday with his name.
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.
Osowski, the third person on board, 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 was sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
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.
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About National Transportation Safety Board
Photo: NTSBgov via Wikimedia Commons · Photo source · Public domain
ntsb.gov ↗222 W 7th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99513, USA
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the federal agency that investigates transportation accidents across the United States, from aviation and marine wrecks to highway, rail and pipeline incidents. It keeps an office in Anchorage, and most of its work in Alaska concerns aviation.
In a state where small planes link many communities, the board opens cases on crashes ranging from minor landing accidents to fatal charter and commuter flights. Its investigators issue a preliminary report soon after a crash and later a finding of probable cause. Its findings often trace a crash to weather, terrain or loading, as when a pilot meets fog on approach, windshear lifts off a short strip, ice builds on the wings or a plane takes off overweight.
The crashes it examines frequently involve floatplanes, Piper Cubs, helicopters and bush pilots flying from remote strips and lakes. Its work runs alongside the Alaska State Troopers, who respond first and identify victims, and the Federal Aviation Administration.