NTSB pieces together fatal Admiralty Island crash

  • By LISA PHU
  • Monday, April 11, 2016 11:17pm
  • News

The sole survivor of Friday’s plane crash remained in critical condition at a Seattle hospital Monday afternoon.

Twenty-one-year-old Morgan Enright is in the intensive care unit, said Harborview Medical Center spokesperson Susan Gregg.

Enright, from Ketchikan, was a passenger in a Cessna 206 that crashed into southern Admiralty Island Friday morning on its way from Wrangell to Angoon.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The pilot, 60-year-old David Galla, and two other passengers, 61-year-old Greg Scheff and 57-year-old Thomas Siekawitch — all Wrangell residents — died. Alaska State Troopers and Juneau Mountain Rescue recovered their bodies on Saturday.

NTSB’s Alaska Regional Chief Clint Johnson said this is the first fatal plane accident in Alaska in 2016.

After first getting airlifted to Juneau’s Bartlett Regional Hospital on Friday, Enright was medevaced to Seattle early Saturday morning.

Enright’s mother, Chere Klein, has been writing updates on Enright’s condition on the website CaringBridge.

On Sunday evening, she wrote: “Morgan is in extremely critical condition at Harborview Medical Center. The next few days are vital to her recovery. She has an amazing team of health professionals overseeing her care and her family by her side. Thank you for your continued prayers; we are so very grateful for the support.”

Around noon on Monday, Klein gave this update: “Morgan is still in extremely critical condition but each hour that passes is a positive step forward. We appreciate your continued prayers during this time.”

In a hangar in Juneau, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are piecing together the airplane wreckage.

“We’ll lay it back out the way it was and the way it normally is, and start documenting any fractures, markings — anything like that we’ll be looking at,” said lead investigator Shaun Williams, who works out of NTSB’s Anchorage office.

For the most part, the plane was still in one piece when it impacted a snow-covered terrain at about 2,200 feet, Williams said.

On Saturday, he and another NTSB investigator conducted the initial on-scene portion of the investigation.

“We documented everything and took reference points so we can go back and actually determine the angle of the terrain, the angle of the impact,” Williams said.

He said they removed the GPS unit that was on board the Cessna and will send it to NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C. for download.

The wreckage had to be taken apart on Sunday and brought back to Juneau in three loads. Two arrived by helicopter Sunday, and the third, Monday.

The initial stages of the investigation focus on documentation, Williams said. The main portion focuses on three areas — “man, machine and environment.”

“By man, we’re going to be looking at the pilot — training records, training history, fleet, all of it. Machine is obviously the airplane, going over it with a fine-tooth comb. That’s what we’re doing here, documenting everything, and then we’ll compare it to records when we get back and when we get all the maintenance records collected,” Williams said. “And then for environment, we’ll be looking at the weather, the winds, air traffic and anything else that’s out there that we can grab from.”

He added that a senior meteorologist at NTSB headquarters in D.C. is conducting a detailed weather study.

The NTSB investigators also have representatives from Cessna Aircraft Company and the plane’s propeller manufacturer, Hartzell Propeller, helping with the investigation. The engine will be sent to its manufacturer, Continental Motors, in Mobile, Alabama for investigation.

Williams said an investigation normally involves interviews with any survivors.

“Right now we want to focus on (Enright) getting better, so we’re not going to push that. When she recovers and feels up to talking with us, if she feels up to talking with us, then we’ll speak to her at the time,” he said.

The Cessna was registered to Wrangell’s Sunrise Aviation, owned by Galla and Tyler Robinson. Williams said he’d be talking with the business during the investigation.

“On behalf of the NTSB, we want to extend our condolences to the families, at the same time, thank the first responders. Sitka and Juneau mountain rescue groups were tremendous in the rescue and recovery efforts,” Williams said.

Williams said a preliminary NTSB report will be out in five to 10 days. The full report could take up to a year, and a probable cause will be issued one to two months after the full report.

On the CaringBridge website, Enright’s mother Chere Klein said people can send cards to: Harborview Medical Center, Attn: Morgan Enright, 325 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104. She politely requested that people not send flowers or balloons since Enright is located in the intensive care unit.

More in News

Nathan Erfurth testifies in his own defense during his trial at the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Erfurth found guilty on 28 counts for sex abuse, exploitation of a minor

The former Soldotna high school teacher and union head was convicted after six days of jury deliberations.

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia during a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. President Trump is pushing to end the war in Ukraine, but analysts say the Russian leader could turn a hastily-planned meeting to his advantage. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
Trump to meet Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage

Trump was expected to make what amounted to a day trip to Alaska to meet with Putin.

Civil Air Patrol Cadet 1st Lt. Hugh Traugott (right) works with Cadet Airman First Class Audrey Crocker (left) during a statewide training exercise on disaster response on Aug. 9-10, 2025, in Homer, Alaska.
Civil Air Patrol practices disaster response

Homer cadets and senior members were part of a statewide exercise last weekend.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly president, Peter Ribbens, speaks in an aside to District 8 representative and Vice President Kelly Cooper before the beginning of the Aug. 5, 2025, KPB Assembly meeting at the Porcupine Theater in Homer, Alaska. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)
Voters to decide on borough sales tax cap increase

Assembly Ordinance 2025-14 aims to adjust the sales tax cap with inflation.

A voter fills out their ballot at the Kenai No. 2 Precinct in the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Few candidates have filed for upcoming election

The filing period for candidacy applications across all six electoral races closes at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 15.

President Zen Kelly speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, May 5, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
KPBSD reverses some activity stipend cuts, raises fees

The district’s final budget adopted in July called for a halving of all activity stipends.

Joel Johnson, president of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation; Carrie Hourman, lead sustainability director for Dow Climate & Circularity; and Susan Sherman, executive director of the Marine Debris Foundation, sit for a panel at the Kenai River Sportfishing Association’s Kenai Classic Roundtable at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Annual Kenai Classic Roundtable to focus on Alaska king salmon

The event will be held from noon to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20, in the Soldotna Field House.

Kenai City Hall is seen on a sunny Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai to inventory roads, streetlights

The projects will identify the condition of the respective city infrastructure and identify possible “major deficiencies,” officials said.

The Soldotna Field House is seen on a sunny Monday, March 31, 2025, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Grand opening for Soldotna Field House on Saturday

Though the field house will be opened this weekend, it will not open to general public operations for a couple more weeks.

Most Read