A sightseeing trip took a terrifying turn when a small aircraft, a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser, crashed into Alaska's Tustumena Lake on Sunday, the Independent reported. The pilot and two children, stranded on the plane's partially submerged wing, endured nearly 12 hours in freezing temperatures before a Good Samaritan spotted them and alerted rescuers.
Terry Godes, a local pilot, joined the search on Monday morning after seeing a Facebook plea for help. While flying over the vast, glacial lake, he initially spotted what appeared to be aircraft wreckage.
"It kind of broke my heart to see that," Mr Godes said.
But as he flew lower, he saw movement- three people were atop the plane's wing, desperately waving.
"I could see that there were three people on top of the wing," he recalled.
Realizing they were alive, Mr Godes quickly radioed other search pilots. Dale Eicher, another pilot in the area, picked up the call and, using his better cell service, relayed the exact coordinates to authorities.
The Alaska National Guard responded immediately, rescuing the survivors from their precarious perch.
"I wasn't sure if we would find them, especially with the cloud cover over the mountains," Mr Eicher said. "Finding them within an hour-and alive-was very good news."
According to Alaska State Troopers, the survivors were taken to a hospital, where their injuries were determined to be non-life-threatening.
Mr Godes described the rescue as nothing short of miraculous. The trio faced brutal conditions overnight, with temperatures dropping into the 20s (below freezing Celsius), stranded on a sinking plane in the middle of a remote lake.
"They spent a long, cold, dark, wet night on top of a wing of an airplane that they weren't planning on," Mr Godes said.
The plane was nearly submerged, with only part of the wing and rudder visible above the water.
Located about 80 miles southwest of Anchorage, Tustumena Lake is notorious for its sudden and powerful winds. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game warns that the area, surrounded by mountains and a glacier, can be treacherous for both boats and planes.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
