Pilot and his two children survive twelve hours on aircraft wing after crash on icy Alaskan lake

A pilot and his two young daughters miraculously survived a plane crash in Alaska, enduring a freezing night on the wing of their partially submerged aircraft. The incident occurred after their Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser went down in Tustumena Lake, a remote body of water about 130 kilometers southwest of Anchorage. With temperatures below freezing and strong winds sweeping across the lake, the trio waited 12 hours for rescue, battling hypothermia and the elements.

The alarm was raised by the pilot’s father, John Morris, who posted a desperate plea for help on Facebook after his son and granddaughters failed to return from their Sunday afternoon flight. His call for assistance was noticed by Terry Godes, a fellow pilot, who quickly organized a search with a group of volunteers. The rescue mission was made more difficult by the lack of an emergency beacon on the downed aircraft, forcing searchers to rely on visual sightings. Eventually, Godes spotted wreckage on the lake and, upon closer inspection, saw three figures waving from the wing.

The Alaska Army National Guard responded swiftly, transporting the survivors to a hospital where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Reports indicate that the pilot’s clothes were wet, suggesting he had been in the freezing water at some point. Given their light clothing and exposure to the harsh Alaskan weather, their survival was nothing short of extraordinary. Tustumena Lake is notorious for sudden, powerful gusts that can endanger both boats and aircraft, though the exact cause of the crash remains under investigation.