Timothy Young  10/9/92 Eagle River Flying Crash

Long Search For Missing Pilot Ends in Chugach Park
By Hugh Curran, ADN 8/15/93

The body of a pilot missing since October was recovered Saturday after two hikers led crash investigators to the wreckage of a plane they discovered in Chugach State Park the night before.  The body of Homer resident Timothy P. Young was found in the wreckage of the two-seater Aeronica Champion he was flying from North Pole to Homer on Oct. 9, said Tim Borson with the National Transportation Safety Board in Anchorage.  Young was the only person on board the plane.  He was 32 at the time he disappeared.

Two unidentified hikers from Utah, in Alaska for the summer, had walked 2-1/2 hours into the Chugach State Park from the Old Glenn Highway just north of Eagle River when they discovered the wreckage and some skeletal remains Friday, said Joette Storm with the Federal Aviation Administration in Anchorage.  The hikers called police that evening.

On Saturday afternoon, one of the hikers and investigators with the NTSB, FAA and Alaska State Troopers went by helicopter to the site of the crash.  Trooper Sgt. Ed Stauber said the plane was spotted about 3 p.m.  "We landed at the top of a mountain and hiked down to the site," Stauber said.  "The wreckage was in a small gulley with fairly steep sides and heavy vegetation."

He could not pinpoint the location of the wreckage.

Young's family had reported him overdue two days after he failed to return to Homer from North Pole.  What followed was one of the largest searches for missing aircraft in Alaska history.

For 12 days in October, state, federal and volunteer civilian pilots flew search patterns covering more than 56,600 square miles between Fairbanks and Homer as they looked for Young and a second missing plane with four aboard that left Fairbanks two days later bound for Anchorage.  The search was called off Oct. 23.

The wreckage of the second plane, a Piper Cherokee, was found in May near Mile 133 of the Parks Highway by the father of one of the passengers.  Young would have encountered rain mixed with snow in the Southcentral area on the day of the flight, forecasters with the National Weather Service said Saturday.  He did not file a flight plan.

Borson said Young's father had been in contact with his office several times since the disappearance.  He will be relieved to know the wreckage and remains were found, Borson said.

Young's remains had been removed from the scene Saturday night, Borson said, and investigators will return to investigate further and document the crash site.