Three rescued after surviving small plane crash in Alaska
(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A man and two children were rescued Monday in Alaska after surviving a small plane crash on a frozen lake.
The flight was listed as overdue late Sunday night and search efforts began.
About 12 hours later, a pilot taking part in that search took photos showing the wreckage of the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser and the three survivors.
"I was really shocked. I didn't expect that we would find them. I didn't expect that we would find them live for sure...I've done a little bit of search and rescue before and it doesn't always turn out this well," said Dale Eicher, who found the wreckage.
Members of the Alaska Army National Guard were directed to the site and the three survivors were rescued.
They were taken to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
It's not yet known what caused the plane to crash-land on the ice-covered Tustemena Lake, near the west side of the Kenai Peninsula.
The National Transportation Safety Board says their next steps will be interviewing the pilot and working to recover the plane.
