Petr Kellner, who died in a helicopter crash in Alaska on Saturday, watches as his daughter Anna Kellnerova and horse Catch Me If You Can Old compete during an equestrian event in Prague, Czech Republic, last August. Kellner, 56, was the Czech Republic's richest man.
ANCHORAGE (AP) - A contracted helicopter carrying guides and guests from a lodge on a heli-skiing trip in Alaska's backcountry crashed on Saturday, killing the pilot and four others, including the Czech Republic's richest man.
The only other person onboard Czech Republic resident David Horvath, 48, was in serious condition but stable Monday at an Anchorage hospital, Alaska State Troopers said.
The five people killed in the accident were identified as Petr Kellner, 56, and Benjamin Larochaix, 50, both of the Czech Republic; Gregory Harms, 52, of Colorado; and two Alaska residents, Sean McManamy, 38, of Girdwood, and the pilot, Zachary Russel, 33, of Anchorage, troopers said Sunday.
The five passengers included three guests and two guides from the Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, said company spokesperson Mary Ann Pruitt.
Kellner was a businessman with a net worth over $17 billion, according to the Forbes 2020 list of the world's richest people. He owned a 98.93% stake in the PPF Group, an international investment company. The group operates in 25 countries in Europe, Asia and North America with assets of $52 billion.
"His professional life was known for his incredible work ethic and creativity, but his private life belonged to his family," a message posted on the PPF Group website said.
Kellner and Larochaix "were loyal and frequent" guests at the lodge, Pruitt said in an email.
Harms was a pioneering heli-ski guide in Alaska and worked for many years at the lodge, Pruitt said.
"Greg was one of the most experienced guides in the business," she said. He also founded a heli-ski company that led trips across the world.
McManamy had been a guide for more than 10 years, and had been with the lodge for the last five, she said. He was also an experienced mountain guide on Denali, North America's tallest peak.
Russel was a pilot for Soloy Helicopters, a company based in Wasilla that is contracted by the lodge to provide transportation, Pruitt said.
The Eurocopter AS50 helicopter crashed under unknown circumstances about 50 miles east of Anchorage at 6:35 p.m. Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday. Authorities said the crash site was near the Knik Glacier.
"It's in an area of very steep terrain, snow-covered terrain, right around 5,000 to 6,000 feet ... on the north side of Knik River," said Clint Johnson, chief of the Alaska office of the National Transportation Safety Board.
"The mode we're in now is to recover the wreckage," he said.
The lodge is about 60 miles northwest of Anchorage, on Judd Lake.
The company website bills the business as the longest operating heli-skiing lodge in Alaska, promising deep powder, pristine runs on some of the best mountain terrain in the world. "An unparalleled alpine adventure is only a helicopter ride away," the website says. Packages start at $15,000 per person.
The statement from the lodge said this was the first time in its 17 years in business "we've had to face an event of this measure."
Soloy Helicopters has a fleet of 19 helicopters providing charter services primarily in Alaska. Its website says it provides support to government and industry, specializing in work for seismic oil drilling exploration programs.
Alaska State Troopers said in a statement Sunday that they received a report of an overdue helicopter and the location of possible crash debris on Saturday night.
A rescue team from Alaska Rescue Coordination Center was dispatched to the crash site in the area of Knik Glacier just after 10 p.m., troopers wrote. The team found five people dead and a sole survivor.
The Alaska Army National Guard and volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group recovered the bodies from the crash site Sunday and turned them over to the state medical examiner.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
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