Melvin Daniel, 07-12-02
Daniel Maret
Harold "Ted" Marney
Matt Hipkiss

Alaska digest
(Published: July 17, 2002)
ANCHORAGE

Crews have retrieved the bodies of four men killed in plane crash

Recovery crews have retrieved the bodies of four men killed in a plane crash in southwestern Alaska, Alaska State Troopers said Tuesday.

The bodies were recovered Monday afternoon from the wreckage found near Lake Clark Pass in the Chigmit Mountains, about 120 miles west of Anchorage.

The single-engine deHavilland Beaver, operated by Bigfoot Air, had been reported overdue Friday on a flight from Lake Hood in Anchorage to Iliamna Lake, where the three passengers were planning to fish.

The passengers were identified as Melvin Daniel, 79, of Renton, Wash; Daniel Maret, 70, of Black Diamond, Wash; and Harold "Ted" Marney, 65, Renton, Wash. Also killed was the pilot, identified as Matt Hipkiss, 35, who lived in Anchorage during the summer and Florence, Ore., during the rest of the year.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

-- The Associated Press