Douglas C-47B Crash Site

On a snowy November evening in 1957, a national guard Twin engine Douglas C-47B plane with 11 people on board tried to land at Gustavus airport. It was on its way from Tacoma, Washington to Anchorage, Alaska. The plane was running low on fuel after having to miss its fuel stop farther south at Annette Island due to severe turbulence and winds and opting to go on to Gustavus, which had good weather at decision time, plus better landing lights and facilities for night landings than Juneau, rather then head back to a Canadian airport. Snow started falling before the plane arrived. It missed its first approach and tried for a second in heavy snow and low visibility. It came in too low, clipped a tall tree, spun around, and went nose down into the ground about two miles northwest of the runway.

Of the 11 people on board, the 7 passengers survived the crash and were rescued by the various homesteaders that arrived that night to help. The four people in the cockpit, however, did not survive.

The plane itself was never recovered and still sits at its crash site just northwest of the Gustavus Airport. The site can be reached by a short quarter mile hike from Mountain View Road. A memorial sign has been erected for visitors to reflect as they observe the once-functional aircraft slowly becoming overgrown and melding with the forest around it.