An air taxi flight with seven people on board is still waiting to take off Wednesday after it was forced to set down near Ruth Glacier and grounded overnight Tuesday by bad weather, according to company officials.
Talkeetna Air Taxi office manager Annie Duquette says the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver took off from Talkeetna for a flightseeing trip at about 4:25 p.m. Tuesday, but the pilot ran into deteriorating conditions about half an hour after departure.
"He did land on one of our landing spots as a precaution, and then the really bad weather rolled in and he was stuck," Duquette said.
While continuing weather kept the plane grounded overnight and has prevented other aircraft from reaching the site, Duquette says the plane has seven days' worth of food on board and survival gear including sleeping bags. She says the plane was still in radio contact and the six passengers were in good spirits Wednesday morning, with the pilot serving them breakfast.
The company notified the National Park Service of the landing, but hadn't alerted emergency officials because the incident wasn't a crash.
Neither National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Clint Johnson nor Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters had heard of the landing as of midday Wednesday, but Peters applauded the pilot's decision to wait out the weather rather than risk crashing the plane.
"That's showing good Alaska judgment," Peters said.
Duquette says forecasters are expecting a break in the weather, during which the plane can return to Talkeetna, later Wednesday afternoon.
Contact Chris Klint