The Briefing Room

State Chapters => State Politics/Government => Topic started by: mountaineer on August 01, 2020, 02:05:45 pm

Title: State lawmaker and local pilot among 7 killed in midair collision over Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula
Post by: mountaineer on August 01, 2020, 02:05:45 pm
State lawmaker and local pilot among 7 killed in midair collision over Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula
 Zaz Hollander and James Brooks
 Updated: 11 hours ago calendar Published 19 hours ago
Quote
An Alaska state legislator is among seven dead after two aircraft collided in midair Friday morning near Soldotna’s airport on the Kenai Peninsula, a crash witnessed by numerous people on the ground.

One of the aircraft involved in the crash was a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency originally described the other plane as a twin-engine Piper Aztec but by Friday afternoon had confirmed it was a Piper PA-12.

The Beaver carried six people, Alaska State Troopers said: 57-year-old pilot Gregory Bell, of Soldotna; 40-year-old guide David Rogers, of Kansas; and South Carolina residents Caleb Hulsey, 26, Heather Hulsey, 25, Mackay Hulsey, 24, and Kirstin Wright, 23.

Rep. Gary Knopp, a 67-year-old Kenai resident who served in the Alaska Legislature, was the only person in the other plane, troopers said.   ...
(https://www.adn.com/resizer/pFpLw8Y0bbY6a4tGXtPwR9DVKr0=/1200x0/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/BU2HEU4KONE53HGK5WLRHNJ6LU.jpg)

Full story at Anchorage Daily News (https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/aviation/2020/07/31/planes-collide-in-midair-near-soldotna-ntsb-says/)

Knopp was a Republican.

Title: Re: State lawmaker and local pilot among 7 killed in midair collision over Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula
Post by: mountaineer on August 01, 2020, 02:07:32 pm
Shock and sadness after state legislator Gary Knopp dies in midair crash
James Brooks
Updated: 13 hours ago
Quote
Alaska and American flags will fly at half-staff across Alaska in memory of state Rep. Gary Knopp, who was among the victims of Friday’s midair plane crash above Soldotna.

Fellow legislators and public officials reacted with shock, dismay and grief as word of Knopp’s death spread. ...

Born in Whitefish, Montana, Knopp was a certified flight instructor and registered pilot who moved to Alaska in 1979 and worked for many years as a general contractor. He was elected to the Alaska Legislature in 2016 after serving on the Kenai Borough Assembly and was a candidate in this year’s Republican primary for House District 30.

Knopp’s name will remain on the ballot, and if he wins the primary, Alaska Republican Party officials will name a replacement. ...
More at Anchorage Daily News (https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2020/07/31/shock-and-sadness-after-state-legislator-gary-knopp-dies-in-midair-crash/)

(https://www.adn.com/resizer/boloWWTyiPOFYBpJKENx3KxVE34=/1200x0/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/ADYPLA2GLBCCFPGCFXOODQVFJQ.jpg)