‘We will not make it through the night.’ Pilots send chilling text after Alaska crash

A relaxed aerial scenic tour of Alaska ended abruptly for two New York pilots when their private plane crashed into the side of a remote mountain Saturday afternoon.

The 1:35 p.m. wreck tore a wing off the plane and scattered gear everywhere, but James Feola and Frederick Northup, both 62, were unhurt, Alaska Public Media reported.

But now they were stuck 6,000 feet up Mount Hawkins, a remote peak in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Northup sent out an SOS on a Garmin InReach satellite device and the men settled in to await rescue, the National Park Service reported.

Rain, snow and wind prevented rescue planes and Alaska National Guard helicopters from reaching the pair despite multiple attempts, the National Park Service said.

Seven aircraft flew more than 74 hours on 18 sorties through inclement weather trying to reach the stranded men, the Alaska Air National Guard said in a release.

At times, rescuers got as close as 2 miles from the crash site before being forced to turn back by low cloud ceilings, Alaska Public Media reported.

“I can’t tell you how many times they were like, ‘Hey, we’re going to go see if we can get up there, the weather looks like it’s getting better,’” Maj. Greg Ulrich of the Alaska Air National Guard told the publication. “And then 20 minutes later they’d call us on the satellite radio and tell us they had to turn around because of weather.”

That’s when Anne Northup received a chilling text from her husband Sunday night.

“Send rescue now, we will not make it through the night,” the message read, according to Alaska Public Media.

“I was preparing my family for the worst,” Anne Northup told the publication.

Then, using night goggles, a Pave Hawk helicopter crew reached Feola and Northup at 2:40 a.m. Monday, the Alaska Air National Guard said. The helicopter lowered two rescuers 120 feet to the stranded men, then hoisted them to safety.

“It was a miracle that they were saved,” Anne Northup told Alaska Public Media. “I want to extend, just, gratitude to search and rescue for not giving up. They searched and searched.”

Feola and Northup were cold but suffered no major injuries, the National Park Service said.

On Tuesday, a Chinook helicopter with the Alaska Air National Guard rescued 12 climbers stranded on the Klutlan Glacier southeast of Mt. Bona, also in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the Alaska National Guard reported.

The mountaineers had altitude sickness and had been stranded by bad weather since requesting help Saturday, officials said.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, which had more than 74,000 visitors in 2019, covers 13.2 million acres, making it the largest national park in the United States.

This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 1:48 PM with the headline "‘We will not make it through the night.’ Pilots send chilling text after Alaska crash."