Four Polish tourists were found dead on Monday after a sightseeing airplane crashed in Alaska's Denali National Park. One person is still missing and presumed dead after the Saturday evening crash. Pilot Craig Layson was taking a group of four tourists on a one-hour tour of Kahiltna Glacier, the starting off point for many trying to climb Denali, North America's tallest mountain. They crashed around 6 p.m. near the top of Thunder Mountain, which rises nearly 11,000-feet above the glacier. Searchers said Monday they found four people dead in a sightseeing airplane carrying Polish tourists in Alaska's Denali National Park — a day and a half after thick clouds hampered the response to a distress call. Another person is missing and presumed dead after the crash Saturday evening on a mountain ridge about 14 miles southwest of Denali, North America’s tallest mountain. After going down, the pilot, Craig Layson of Saline, reported by satellite phone that passengers suffered injuries but the connection failed before he could give details. The airplane was stocked with sleeping bags, a stove, and food, giving hope that survivors would be found despite terrain described by the National Park Service as "extremely steep and a mix of near-vertical rock, ice and snow." Low-lying clouds and rainy conditions prevented crews from spotting the wreckage until clearer weather on Monday allowed a helicopter to reach the crash site. A park service ranger descended by short-haul line. The ranger dug through snow that had filled the aircraft and found the bodies of four people. There were no footprints or other disturbances in the snow that would have indicated anyone made it out of the plane, the park service said. The de Havilland Beaver plane, operated by K2 Aviation, had taken off on Saturday around 5 p.m. with a pilot and four passengers from Poland for a tour of Kahiltna Glacier, the jumping off point for many climbers attempting to scale Denali. It crashed about an hour later near the top of 10,900-foot Thunder Mountain, which rises above the glacier. The park service describes it as more of a mile-long ridge than a mountain. Climbing season on Denali has ended, but sightseeing flights can still land on the glacier, allowing visitors to walk on the ice field, park service spokeswoman Katherine Belcher said.<doc-sep>The National Park Service released a photo on Monday showing a tourist plane that had crashed into a mountain ridge in Alaska's Denali National Park. The plane crashed Saturday evening, as pilot Craig Layson was taking a group of four Polish tourists to see Kahiltna Glacier. A park ranger confirmed Monday the deaths of four of the people on board. A fifth person is missing, but presumed dead. A dramatic photo the National Park Service released Monday shows a tourist plane hanging precariously on the side of an Alaskan mountain, after a deadly crash over the weekend. Pilot Craig Layson took a group of four Polish tourists to see the Kahiltna glacier, at the base of Denali — North America's tallest mountain — Saturday evening. About an hour after taking off, the plane crashed into the side of Thunder Mountain, that stands nearly 11,000 feet above the glacier. On Monday, the National Park Service released this photo showing the crashed plane. AP Layson called for help, saying his passengers were injured, and there was initially hope that they might survive since there were sleeping bags, a stove, and food on board. But poor weather prevented a rescue over the weekend, and by the time a ranger reached the crash site on Monday, he found four bodies. The missing fifth person is presumed dead as well. The park service ranger was lowered down on a line from the helicopter and dug through snow that had filled the aircraft to find the bodies of four people. There were no footprints or other disturbances in the snow that would have indicated anyone made it out of the plane, the park service said. —KTVA 11 News (@ktva) August 8, 2018 Officials at Denali National Park are now working to determine if and when they can launch a mission to recover the bodies. The four Polish passengers on the plane are not being identified, at the request of officials at their national embassy in Los Angeles. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Ideally, an investigator would travel to the crash site and keep analyzing the wreckage when it's removed from the mountain, spokesman Clint Johnson said. "My understanding is that it's in a crevasse-laden area," Johnson said, adding that reaching the site will "require technical climbing experience." A zoomed-in version of the photo. AP Layson was a married father-of-three from Saline, Michigan, The Saline Post reported. The newspaper says he spent the last two summers living in Alaska with his wife, working for K2 Aviation. He also owned Stony Creek Collision in nearby Ypsilanti, Michigan, manager Bobby Seldkamp told The Associated Press by phone Monday evening. His family told local ABC affiliate WXYZ that he had been flying since he was a teenager. While the climbing season generally ends in mid-July, it's still considered safe for sightseeing flights to land on the glacier later in the season, allowing visitors to walk on the ice field. Temperatures on the mountain at 11,000 feet can be warm if the sun is out, but likely below freezing at night, American Alpine Institute director of operations Jason Martin said. K2 Aviation suspended all sightseeing flights after the crash and said it's cooperating with the investigation. The company has been family-owned and operated for 55 years, according to a statement.<doc-sep>Five days after a flightseeing plane crashed high in the Alaska Range near Denali, stubborn clouds once again stymied efforts to reach the wreckage and begin recovery efforts. A two-person flight crew in a National Park Service high-altitude helicopter couldn't even catch a glimpse of the K2 Aviation plane Thursday, agency spokeswoman Katherine Belcher said. "It is completely shrouded in clouds in that one spot," Belcher said Thursday afternoon. "Unfortunately the site was never visible." The recovery mission is probably suspended until the next anticipated weather window Friday morning, she said. Ranger Tucker Chenoweth and pilot Andy Hermansky spent five hours hoping for an opening, Belcher said. They stayed in the air as much as they could. "It is so clear on the Kahiltna (Glacier). It's very clear up there in other areas," she said. "But Thunder Peak is just shrouded. It will not budge." The de Havilland Beaver is perched on a hanging glacier on the north side of a 10,500-foot ridge about 14 miles from the summit of Denali. Bad weather persisted for days after the crash, allowing just a 5-minute window for a mountaineering ranger who dropped to the wreckage by rope Monday to confirm that nobody aboard survived. Five people — a pilot from Michigan and four passengers from Poland — were aboard when the flightseeing plane crashed Saturday on a remote mountain deep in the Alaska Range. It was the deadliest accident in recent history for an air taxi flying into Denali National Park and Preserve. There are a number of scenarios for recovery methods, Belcher said. It's not clear if the bodies will be removed before the wreckage is taken off the mountain. Incident commanders first need to get a closer look at the site, she said. "Has there been new snow? Is it shifting? We can't do anything until we stabilize the aircraft." The park service has completed plane recoveries in Denali at 6,000 feet but "never at close to 11,000," Belcher said. Pilot Craig Layson made two brief satellite phone calls to the K2 office reporting the crash and injuries before communications ended. National Transportation Safety Board investigators who arrived in Talkeetna Wednesday were looking into the calls, which weren't recorded. The investigators said they spent their first day in town looking at photographs of the crash, speaking with families of the victims and interviewing employees at K2 Aviation. Investigators won't land at the site, officials say, but Belcher said the park service was hoping to fly them over the wreckage sometime Thursday.<doc-sep>
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Searchers on Monday found four people dead in a sightseeing airplane carrying Polish tourists in Alaska's Denali National Park — a day and a half after thick clouds hampered the response to distress calls. Another person is missing and presumed dead after the crash Saturday evening on a mountain ridge about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of Denali, North America's tallest mountain. After going down, the pilot, identified Monday as Craig Layson, reported by satellite phone that passengers suffered injuries, but the connection failed before he could give details. The airplane was stocked with sleeping bags, a stove and food, giving hope that survivors would be found despite terrain described by the National Park Service as "extremely steep and a mix of near-vertical rock, ice and snow." Low-lying clouds and rainy conditions prevented crews from spotting the wreckage until a break in the clouds Monday allowed a helicopter to reach the crash site. A park service ranger was lowered down on a line from the copter and dug through snow that had filled the aircraft to find the bodies of four people. There were no footprints or other disturbances in the snow that would have indicated anyone made it out of the plane, the park service said. The ranger was pulled out after confirming the deaths. A park service spokeswoman said she could not comment on recovery plans. "We're working that out right now," Katherine Belcher said. The plane operated by K2 Aviation had taken off Saturday evening with Layson and four passengers from Poland for a tour of Kahiltna Glacier, the jumping off point for climbers attempting to climb Denali. It crashed around near the top of 10,900-foot (3,300-meter) Thunder Mountain, which rises above the glacier and is described by the park service as more of a milelong ridge than a mountain. Immediately after crashing, Layson used a satellite phone to call the K2 office in the community of Talkeetna. He made a second call about an hour later, Belcher said. On one of the calls, he said passengers were injured, but the connection failed. Story continues The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Ideally, an investigator would travel to the crash site and keep analyzing the wreckage when it was removed from the mountain, spokesman Clint Johnson said. A recovery likely will not occur until later this week at the earliest because of foul weather and the dangerous location, he said. "My understanding is that it's in a crevasse-laden area," Johnson said, adding that reaching the site will "require technical climbing experience." Layson was from Saline, Michigan, the Saline Post reported. He also owned Stony Creek Collision in nearby Ypsilanti, Michigan, manager Bobby Seldkamp told The Associated Press by phone Monday evening. Belcher said the park officials were working to contact family members in Poland before identifications would be released. Belcher said the tour had been arranged by a tour operator in Poland with K2 Aviation. Jason Martin, director of operations for American Alpine Institute, said more crevasses appear with summer snow melt and climbing generally ends in mid-July. "Everything becomes harder because of the amount of crevasses opening and the weaker snow bridges," he said. But sightseeing flights can still land on the glacier, allowing visitors to walk on the ice field, officials said. Temperatures on the mountain at 11,000 feet (3,353 meters) can be warm if the sun is out but likely below freezing at night, he said. His company regularly flies with K2 Aviation for Denali climbs, and before taking off, pilots give passengers a briefing on emergency gear stowed in the back of the airplanes, he said. K2 Aviation suspended all sightseeing flights after the crash and said it's cooperating with the investigation. The company is owned by Suzanne and Todd Rust and has been family-owned and operated for 55 years, according to a statement.