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A report on the plane crash near Denali earlier this month that left five people dead in Denali National Park and Preserve offers no indications of why the flight went down – but a glimpse of the survivors’ last moments in the stricken aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Thursday on the Aug. 4 crash of the K2 Aviation de Havilland Beaver. Michigan pilot Craig Layson died in the crash, along with four Polish tourists, who will not be identified at the request of their government.
According to the report, the flight was intended to be a one-hour tour of various glaciers including the Kahiltna Glacier and its Denali Base Camp originating and ending in Talkeetna. The plane took off at 5:05 p.m., before striking the Thunder Mountain ridgeline at an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet. The plane’s emergency locator transmitter began sending a signal at 5:53 p.m.