A Routine Flight Turns Tragic

On August 4, 2018, Janusz Piotr Intek, a 59-year-old Polish national, embarked on a sightseeing flight over Denali National Park in Alaska. Accompanied by fellow Polish tourists Kazimierz Miernik, Robert Sieniawski, Maria Teresa Libacka, and their American pilot, Craig Layson, the group departed from Talkeetna for what was intended to be a one-hour aerial tour. Their aircraft, a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver with tail number N323KT, was operated by K2 Aviation .

The Last Known Moments

At approximately 5:45 p.m., the plane was observed flying over Denali Base Camp. Shortly thereafter, its GPS tracker ceased movement, indicating a crash. The aircraft had collided with a crevasse on Thunder Mountain, a knife-edge ridge at nearly 11,000 feet elevation, about 14 miles from Denali's summit. Despite the severe conditions, pilot Craig Layson managed to make two brief satellite phone calls, reporting that he was trapped in the wreckage and that there were at least two fatalities. Both calls were cut off abruptly, and it remains unclear how many occupants survived the initial impact....Read More