Pilot, 2 children survive night on airplane’s wing after it crashes into icy lake

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) - A pilot and two children have been found alive after the plane they were on went down over the weekend.

Alaska State Troopers said the group was on a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser on Sunday before it reportedly crashed in Tustumena Lake.

Good Samaritans helped rescue the trio after rescue volunteers spotted the plane’s wreckage in the lake near the toe of a glacier.

Authorities said the pilot and the children survived nearly 12 hours in the lake, hanging on to a piece of the plane while in the water.

The Alaska Army National Guard rescued the male pilot and the two juvenile passengers from the plane around 10:30 a.m. Monday.

They were taken to a Kenai Peninsula-area hospital for treatment and expected to survive.

Loved ones thanked the community for the help in locating them.

“I‘m proud of the guys that stepped up and went out and helped,” family friend Scott Holmes said.

Dennis Hogenson, with the National Transportation Safety Board, called the situation “remarkable and good news.”

Hogenson noted that they still do not know what caused the crash.

Investigators said they will be interviewing the pilot and working on recovering the aircraft.