Skiers rescue downed pilot

ANCHORAGE - A massive search for the pilot of a small plane that crashed at Eklutna Lake ended when the man stumbled upon a group of cross-country skiers as he was attempting to walk to help.

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Wade Strahan was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center where he arrived reportedly dehydrated, cold and very tired, said Lt. Col. Steve Politsch, an Alaska National Guard spokesman.

Strahan told KTUU-TV in Anchorage he felt lucky to be alive during an interview from his home.

"I knew I was going to have a miserable night and I felt ... positive that I was going to be back the next day," Strahan told KTUU. "But I had a lot of time to think about what people at home were thinking about while I was out there, knowing the outcomes often aren't nearly as good."

When he was found, Strahan was wearing wet bluejeans, boots and "a couple layers on top," said James Conley, a police officer on scene when the man was flown to the hospital.

"He didn't have a chance to get anything out of the aircraft, he told me," Conley said. "It's an incredible story in terms of persevering despite everything looking bad. He kept his composure in terms of what he had to do to survive."

Strahan, who is also a battalion chief with the Anchorage Fire Department, took off from Merrill Field on Friday in his Cessna C-172.

He told rescue officials that the plane crashed about 3 p.m. Friday while he was attempting to land at Bold Airstrip on the lake's east end.

Strahan made several landings at the strip to pack the snow and test how solid the airstrip was, said Dan Amyot, park ranger at Eklutna. His airplane was equipped with wheels and not skis, Amyot said.

"It sounds like the third or fourth time he tried to make a landing, his wheels started sinking in and things got a little tippy," Amyot said. "He started to take off again, but it slowed him down a little bit and he hit a stump of driftwood that got washed up in late fall."

The plane then skidded across the lake shore and broke through the ice and sank, Amyot said. The man had to swim about 150 feet to shore and etched the word "help" in the shore line, he said.

Strahan's wife apparently called firefighters when her husband was overdue. Strahan had not filed a flight plan that would tell rescuers where he was headed.

After interviewing his wife, the Alaska National Guard and Civil Air Patrol began searching a 2,400 square-mile area encompassing Eklutna Lake, the Chugach Range, Lake George, Knik and Big Lake, said Maj. Chris Kobi, a Guard spokesman.

"It would have made everybody's life so much easier if we'd had a flight plan," Kobi said. "Our winters are unforgiving in Alaska."

Strahan found the Eklutna Alex Cabin nearby, a trappers cabin that had no stove or fireplace, and broke a bunch of spruce bows for a bed, Amyot said.

The National Weather Service has no official readings for the area, but a forecaster said it couldn't have been warmer than 10 degrees Friday night and early Saturday.

At one point, Strahan saw a rescue helicopter overhead but didn't get its attention, Amyot said.

Strahan set out on foot Saturday and had traveled about eight miles when he encountered several skiers. The skiers, who were not part of the search for Strahan, were about two miles from the ranger station.

The skiers text messaged police on a cell phone and skied to the ranger station, where they found Amyot and a caretaker.

Strahan was taken to the ranger station on a snowmachine, was given hot tea and phoned his wife.

"The first thing he did when he walked into the office was he sat right on my heater. And he didn't want to leave." Amyot said.

Police arrived soon and an Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter crew from Kulis Air National Guard Base took him to Providence.

Also assisting in the search was the Army National Guard, Alaska State Park Rangers, Rescue Coordination Center, volunteers and the Anchorage police and fire departments.