Search on in Denali for overdue small plane
Published: October 15th, 2009 12:22 PM
Last Modified: October 15th, 2009 02:16 PM
A search was under way Thursday for an overdue aircraft inside Denali National Park with a pilot and a wolf biologist on board.
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The plane took off at about noon Wednesday and was supposed to return by nightfall. The Park Service was notified about midnight that the plane was overdue.
Fister said a flight plan indicated the two were looking for wolf packs. Thursday's search was focused on the north side of the park because that is where wolves tend to be, she said.
Haber, an independent biologist who for decades has studied Denali's wolves, is a frequent visitor to the 6-million-acre park.
It was not known where Haber intended to look for wolves on Wednesday.
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For years, Haber has pushed for greater protections for the wolves when they venture outside park boundaries and onto state lands, where they can be hunted and trapped. Two years ago he was angered when as many as 19 wolves, including four collared wolves, were killed outside the northeast boundary of the park and outside a no-trapping buffer zone.
An entry on his Web site in March said the Toklat pack remained at 11 wolves, including five to six pups, down from 14 to 17 wolves in late January.
Haber said the information was garnered from his research flights.
"He has been here and doing research in this area for many years," Fister said. "Obviously, he is very familiar with the park."
Fister said a C-130 aircraft was used Wednesday night in an attempt to pick up the plane's emergency locator if it had been activated, but no signal was detected.
The weather in the park on Wednesday was clear with some low-lying fog banks. Winds were calm. On Thursday, the weather was mostly overcast with a trace of snow.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/aviation/story/974810.html
Why the good guys plane and not one of the killers planes!
Prayers for Mr Haber & the pilot!
Sad, very sad news indeed. :(
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/aviation/story/974810.html
click link for full story
Human remains found in wreckage of plane
MISSING: Wreck may be Cessna carrying biologist Gordon Haber.
The burned wreckage of a small plane that went missing in Denali National Park with a pilot and a wolf biologist aboard was found Thursday with human remains inside.
An Alaska State Trooper confirmed that there were human remains in the plane. However, impending darkness prevented the trooper from investigating further, said park spokeswoman Kris Fister.
Click to enlarge
Wildlife biologist Gordon Haber
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much more info in link
makes you wonder if there was foul play.
This post was modified from its original form on 16 Oct, 6:07
very sad indeed-
The pilot survived.
Pilot survived crash that killed biologisthttp://www.adn.com/news/alaska/aviation/story/974810.html
Here is a sample of what this man has done for wolves:
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/story/975878.html
Like I said, this has foul play written all over it.
Defenders of Wildlife should do some sort of memorial.
I would like to know if there is a memorial for Gordon in Alaska.
I met him in 1971 or 1972 in Denali National Park. He was doing research on
wolf packs in Denali Park then. His death is a tragic loss to wolves and to
those of us who would like to see their continued survival.
I had been working as a Ranger Naturalist in Katmai National Monument (Park now) and photographed young wolves in that area.
