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Another Aircraft Incident At Glacier Bay National Park

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By NPT Staff - July 22nd, 2018
Plane mired in muck at base of Grand Pacific Glacier in Glacier National Park/NPS

Plane mired in muck at base of Grand Pacific Glacier in Glacier National Park/NPS

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska seldom makes a lot of news, though for the second time in less than a week a pilot has drawn attention to the park.

In the latest incident, Thorsten Kampe of Germany reportedly experienced some engine problems while flying near the Grand Pacific Glacier at the head of Glacier Bay's Tarr Inlet. Rather than risk a crash, he landed near the glacier's snout. However, the nose of the plane subsequently buried in the muck, breaking the propeller as he taxied through soft sand, according to park staff.

The National Park Service received a relayed radio call from the cruise ship Island Princess at 1 p.m. Friday to report the plane in front of the glacier. The pilot was transported onboard a Park Service vessel to Bartlett Cove. A local company was to salvage the aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board, U.S. Coast Guard, and Alaska state troopers were notified.

Earlier last week, a pilot of a single-engine plane that was flying in tandem with another crash-landed into a lake in the park and managed to swim away from the wreckage and was rescued by the Coast Guard.

Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers, Glacier Bay National Park/NPS

Margerie Glacier (top), and dirt-coated Grand Pacific Glacier (right)/NPS

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