January 24, 2014
This is a continuation of a series of articles on some of the tourism injury cases I’ve seen, and the various ways our Alaskan visitors have suffered from these accidents. I’ll also talk about the importance of an experienced local Alaskan attorney in cases like these.
Alaska can be a very risky place for tourists – Part 1
Airplane Accidents
Several years ago I was involved in a case where two airplanes collided in the wilderness, resulting in six fatalities. This midair collision occurred miles from civilization, on a bright sunny clear day at the end of a successful fishing adventure for the passengers aboard the professionally flown lodge floatplane. Neither pilot was inexperienced, there was no equipment failure and there was no clear “pilot error”. Typically small plane crashes result from pilot error, bad weather or equipment failure. In this tragic situation, it seemed to me that the biggest factor involved was that all of the aircraft occupants had simply run out of “luck”.
Throughout Alaska during the fishing season the charter fleet takes fisherman out of Homer, Seward, Ketchikan and Juneau to catch salmon and halibut on a rod and reel. Fishing guides are paid to take clients down the Kenai and other rivers during the height of fishing season. These fishing trips can be a thrilling adventure, but they present opportunities for accidents and injuries.
Flight seeing accidents have also led to a number of injuries and fatalities amongst the tourist population over the years. A flight seeing trip can be one of the most spectacular adventures imaginable, particularly for someone no longer able to shoulder a backpack and climb to the top of a mountain range. These trips originate all over the state. Tourists off of cruise ships often go on flight seeing rides in Southeast Alaska. Likewise, tourists catch flight seeing rides around Denali and into the Wrangell Mountains. However, every summer it seems like one or more flight seeing aircraft crash and invariably lives are lost.