Icy runway causes minor incident at Tyee Hydro Plant

Ice on the runway caused a minor incident involving an aircraft at the Tyee Lake Hydro Facility. On the morning of Dec. 17, a pilot contracted with Southeast Alaska Power Agency landed at the facility, located at the head of Bradfield Canal, about 40 miles south of Wrangell. The incident occurred around 9 a.m., according to SEAPA chairman Steve Prysunka.

The contractor, who wished to not be named, said that the landing was fine, save for a patch of ice on the final portion of the landing strip. He said that the plane was going about walking speed when it hit the ice, and simply did not come to a stop. The plane tipped nose-first into a ditch. There were four passengers in the plane, pilot included. Prysunka said that everybody was fine and there were no injuries. The only damage to the aircraft was a bent propeller. The pilot called this minor incident a “nonevent,” similar to someone in a car skidding on ice in their driveway.