Former Mayor of Aniak Dies in Plane Crash

November 30, 2011|by Rebecca Palsha | Channel 2 News

Courtesy AST

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A former mayor of Aniak died in a plane crash Tuesday night.

The National Transportation Safety Board said 61-year-old Steve Hill was flying a Cessna 207 from Aniak to Chuathbaluk when his plane crashed.

Hill was the co-owner of Inland Aviation Services and also served on the Aniak city council.

The NTSB said Hill took off, alone, from Aniak about 7:40 pm on Tuesday night.

He was picking up a passenger in Chuathbaluk to take back to Aniak.

When Hill failed to arrive at his destination Alaska State Troopers began a search for the missing pilot and found his wrecked plane about 2:40 am Wednesday morning.

The wreck was found about three miles southwest of the airport.

In August two people died in a crash involving Inland Aviation Services when a Cessna 207 collided with a mountain west of McGrath during bad weather.

In that incident, four other people on the plane, a family with two children, survived the crash.

The NTSB said Hill was flying in front of that plane before it crashed.

“We look at each accident as a stand-alone event,” said Clint Johnson, an investigator with the NTSB. “Obviously as we get a little further along we might look to see if there are some similarities but at this point each one is looked at as a separate event.”

On Tuesday night snow fell near Chuathbaulk, but the NTSB hasn’t been able to get to the crash site yet to determine what went wrong.

Erich Kuball, who works at the Kuspuk School District and is a friend of Hill, said the longtime pilot was a kind, well-liked man.

“He was really a good guy,” Kuball said. “Friendly to everybody and we’re going to miss him here. It’s quite a loss.”

Contact Rebecca Palsha

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