Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Plane crash near Unalakleet

Second person identified.


On June 16, 2023, at 11:48 am, Alaska State Troopers were notified of an SOS activation from an InReach device. It was reported that there had been a plane crash 35 miles Northeast of Shaktoolik. The Cessna 180 aircraft was witnessed taking off but not climbing and then crashing. Subsequent information was reported that both occupants of the aircraft were deceased. AST responded from Nome and recovered the two bodies from the crash site. Tentative identification of the deceased is Pilot Jim Tweto, age 68 of Unalakleet, Alaska, and passenger Shane Reynolds, age 45 of Orofino, Idaho. Next of kin has been notified. The bodies are being transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage. NTSB was notified of the crash.

Jim had sold his interest in ERA but was busy every day. He had two planes and was still active flying but didn’t have to deal with running a large business. He and Ferno walked the roads daily to keep active. He also enjoyed spending time at his camp and with friends and family. When you bumped into Jim, a 5 minute conversation might last a half hour talking about all kinds of topics. He never said a bad word about anyone and always had a big smile on his face. He will be missed.

Mark, you certainly nailed the essence of the man!

This was classic Jim. He had a true heart for the next generation, and any young kid who showed an interest was "fair game." Here he's explaining some of the instruments on the 207 to my son as we taxied out in Unalakleet 2 years ago. Moments later, just as soon as we were airborne, he handed control of the yoke to him and we flew to Saint Michael. I fully expected Jim would retake the yoke when we began the approach but he left my life in the hands of my 14 year-old as he coached him to put the plane safely on the runway. That was pretty risky considering I hadn't yet paid for the charter. 😆

Rough deal. Never seen the show, but he sounds like a heck of a guy.

Does anyone know,did the accident happen in the Red Cessna 180 that was his absolute favorite as portrayed in the TV show?
That thing looked like it had plenty of "experience " but I'm sure it was in good airworthy condition .Later in the show it looked as if it had an engine upgrade with big three blade prop.There are so many mods. for those airplanes,the original O470 Continental was good but not great for what he was trying to do.
I'm sure Mr. Tweto had many situations where he needed every ounce of performance the airplane had, the ragged edge can bite!

Yes, it was his 180. That was his plane for off runway flying and his favorite. It was a fun plane to ride in. He had a 207 for other flights. Both were maintained at a very high level.

Bummer. With thousands of hours aloft, eventually something can hit the fan.

Have a local acquaintance that put in 20+ years of flying up there. In tight situations, he'd only have one of us in the Beaver at a time for take offs. He'd ferry us individually to a much larger lake, load up the game and entire party, and then take off.

Help is a long way off up there, so it's certainly in one's best interest to not screw up. Still, sh-t happens.

Very sad news. Prayer sent for God to watch over Ferno and Ariel.

My wife and I were fans of the show. Jim had a heart bigger than all of Alaska. The large group who showed up for his memorial service speaks volumes about his character. He touched so many lives.

I’ve been keeping Ferno and Ariel in my prayers daily. I can’t imagine the giant hole Jim’s passing has left in their lives….but in a much larger sense Jim’s passing has left a giant hole in the communities that he served and the lives of so many that Jim touched just by being himself!

The world needs more Men like Jim Tweto….

There are 2 more daughters. Ayla and Elaine. He also has a brother in Alaska.

Knew there was a brother and another daughter. Didn't realized 3 daughters that we recall.

Anyway never got to meet him or family but have never heard anything but good about them.

A huge loss. We are diminished.

Fly High!

Thoughts prayers and condolences to family and friends

The "simple" memorial they had for him in ANC had many chairs for seating, and they still had to open the big hangar door on the Alaska Air museum in order to make enough standing room.

If you watch Flying Wild, the girls and some of the crew got goofy for the cameras here and there, but the Jim you see is pretty much him...good man.

The youngest daughter, Elaine, a very excellent pilot as well, right from the get-go, but keeps her head down and avoids the "silliness" of cameras and attention.

He is and will continue to be very missed by many.

Met them when the show was running. We were picking up a boat that a friend had bought from a local. Whole family was funny especially Ferno.

Great week in Unalakleet getting that boat ready to come around to Dillingham.

Plane struck tree on takeoff that killed pilot Jim Tweto, initial investigation shows

The aircraft was attempting takeoff from a remote, off-airport, mountain ridgeline airstrip

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The aircraft flown by famed Alaska pilot Jim Tweto clipped a tree when it was taking off from a remote, off-airport, mountain ridgeline airstrip in June, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary investigative report released Tuesday. The crash took the lives of Tweto, of Unalakleet, and outdoor guide Shane Reynolds, of Orofino, Idaho. The crash happened at about 11:35 a.m., on June 16, near Shaktoolik.

After clipping the tree, the left stabilizer of the aircraft, or its pitch control, was disabled. The aircraft crashed, uncontrolled after that. A guide, who was at the scene of the crash, said winds had been “gusting and changing a lot,” that day. Others in the area had described winds as unusual. Tweto was known to have used the mountain airstrip many times before.

The airplane involved in the crash, a Cessna 180H, was operated by Golden Eagle Outfitters and involved a remote bear hunting excursion, the NTSB wrote in their preliminary investigation. The pilot, Tweto, had returned to the remote airstrip after having flown two hunters to another destination when he picked up Reynolds and gear.

“There’s a lot more work to do,” said Clint Johnson, chief of NTSB’s Alaska Regional Office. “We don’t know if there was a momentary loss of engine power. We don’t know if there was a medical issue. We don’t know if there was maybe a control issue. Yes, the end result is, it appears at this early juncture, that the airplane struck a tree on takeoff and disabled one of the flight controls, but we don’t know what led up to that. That’s our job right now to see if we can figure out what happened during those couple of moments before the airplane hit the tree.”

It can take a year for the NTSB to fully complete an investigation. Johnson said he doesn’t expect the crash that took Tweto’s life to take longer than a year to fully investigate.

Tweto’s family said the famed pilot had taught more than 100 people how to fly and inspired countless people to become pilots. Tweto was a star of the Discovery Channel reality show “Flying Wild Alaska.”


https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2...t-jim-tweto-initial-investigation-shows/

Was on a multi-day road trip when I saw a Facebook post by KUIU about the crash. Pictures of both men and their families were in the post. The picture of the guide's wife caught my attention, because she looked almost exactly like my closest in age cousin when she was younger (she passed from cancer 15 years ago). Then I saw her name - Gina. My cousin's daughter. Both men killed in that crash were good family men. Really a sad deal. Life is fragile.