Press Release #2 LifeMed Crash Unalaska

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: 

Marjie Veeder, Acting City Manager                                                                   
City of Unalaska
(907) 581-1251 – telephone
[email protected]

LIFEMED CRASH AT UNALASKA AIRPORT

Unalaska, Alaska, January 16, 2020, 11:00 a.m.

At approximately 8:00 a.m. this morning a LifeMed medevac King Air aircraft crashed on takeoff from the Unalaska Airport. The aircraft’s destination was reported to be Adak, Alaska. The aircraft is in the water between the end of the runway and Hog Island in Unalaska Bay and has now sunk. The cause of the crash is not known.

There was no patient on board at the time of the crash. The crew self-evacuated to a life raft. The 911 call came in at 8:04 a.m. and the City’s Ports vessel Tidebreaker was immediately dispatched to the scene. The LifeMed crew was transferred to the Tidebreaker at 8:24 a.m. The Tidebreaker transported the crew to the Carl E. Moses Boat Harbor where they were taken to the Iliuliuk Family Health Services Clinic via ambulance. The first ambulance arrived at the clinic at 8:52 a.m.; the second at 8:55 a.m. The condition of the crew is not available at this time, but they are being transported to Anchorage for further evaluation.

The NTSB has been notified and will handle the investigation into the crash.

The U.S. Coast Guard is in charge of environmental remediation.

Unalaska’s airport runway was reopened about 9:00 a.m.

 

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