Miracle In Alaska: Pilot And Two Children Found Alive After Plane Crash On Icy Lake

March 26, 2025

Today's good news story comes from Anchorage, Alaska.

A group of Good Samaritans in Alaska is being praised for their heroic efforts in helping save a pilot and two children who survived a plane crash on a frozen lake.

Terry Godes (right) / ABC News

The small aircraft, a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser, was reported overdue Sunday night near Tustumena Lake and the Kenai Mountains, close to Homer, according to the Associated Press.

After nearly 12 hours of searching, volunteer pilot Tyler Godes spotted the wreckage. "I saw the wing up there, it broke my heart. I know what happens when airplanes break through the ice," Godes said. Seeing the plane partially submerged, he initially feared the worst, assuming no one had survived.

Dale Eicher, a local with search and rescue experience, had just started his own search when he heard the downed plane had been found over the radio. Realizing the person who spotted it might not have cell service, Eicher quickly contacted Alaska State Troopers.

“I called the troopers immediately because I was still in cell service and I knew it was a really good chance that the guy that had found him was not in cell service,” Eicher told KTUU. “I was really shocked. I didn’t expect that we would find them. I didn’t expect that we would find them alive for sure … it doesn’t always turn out this well.”

Scott Holmes, a family friend, credited the community's swift response with helping locate the survivors. After he shared a call for help on Facebook, the post was shared over 400 times.

“My daughter told me there were 420 shares on my post,” Holmes said. “I‘m proud of the guys that stepped up and went out and helped out.”

Once rescuers reached the crash site, the pilot and two children—who are immediate family members—were transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel confirmed.

Dennis Hogenson, Western Pacific Region Chief of the National Transportation Safety Board, described the rescue as “remarkable and good news.”

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