On MSNBC.COM a story on a pilot and 4 passengers stranded on an Alaskan glacier since Sunday. A relief crew managed to reach them with supplies but they are waiting on the weather to clear to get them out. The plane was equipped with a locator beacon which alerted the authorities. A hard landing made the plane unflyable.

According to the article the passengers did not have warm clothing or survival supplies. Doesn't say what the pilot had in the plane.

I took interest in this story since I'm headed up to SE Alaska tomorrow to vist DD2. I'm taking my PLB, Ham HT, marine VHF, and my GPS plus all the usaual EDC stuff. Not taking any chances...

How about you bringing a satelite phone?

DD2 has access to one, but I'm planning on spending most of my time in line-of-sight range with civilization. The PLB will handle any out of range emergencies. Mostly it's a question of staying dry, the area has had one day of sun in the last 65 days.

It will be almost 40 degrees cooler there than the east coast of the US where I live.

If you are flying in using a charter service the first thing I would do is check what equipment the plane is required to carry
by law in Alaska. When we used one I still carried my normal (as passenger) survival gear along with seasonal clothes, ie. if I was on the ground hiking.
Fire starting equ.
Compass
Folding knife with a saw blade.
A few band-aids.
Water bottle.

Doug's AMK Kit with a folding knife/saw,
AMK bivi bag, a few contractor trash bags,
and water bottle with a metal cup would cover the bases nicely.
I did not worry about the comm gear as there was no
chance of deviating from our planned course and we had a time
line.
You have a handie talkie so the comm is covered.

IMO unless you are planning a drop camp, if it can't fit
in a std. shoulder Man Bag then you are packing to much,
you need it small enough to "keep with you on your body"

I think the PLB would do better than a satellite phone.

Aren't Alaska planes required to carry axes? It seems that I read that somewhere.

I like Peter Kummerfeldt's motto, which is something like "prepare to survive - not just to arrive". If you look through his site:

http://www.outdoorsafe.com/index.htm

... you'll see that he tends toward simple small kits that can be carried all the time that focus on surviving a few nights outdoors until help arrives.

Its not all about the gear, its as much about making sure that the help DOES arrive.

Bring the PLB. Let a trusted friend know your travel plan. Set up a communication plan so they know if something went wrong as soon as possible. Have sufficient gear to survive long enough to be rescued. Have gear to make yourself visible - to be rescued.

BTW, is there really much value in a compass if you have a PLB and help will come to you? It seems Alaska is so big and rugged that traveling on foot to rescue yourself would seem almost impossible.

If self-rescue is a possibility, then I'd suggest carrying a map of the area, a GPS (and know how to use it with your map!!), and a compass.

I would also think some form of minimal shelter would be vital - even some large bright plastic bags.

Would a metal cup to dig and melt snow be useful too? Of course, there probably isn't much of a fuel source on a glacier, but then again, Alaska isn't all glaciers.

Maybe also a bandanna to sop up water, swat flies, and act as a sunshield?

Thanks, all good thoughts. We'll be flying on Alaska Air, though we might take a sigthseeing trip on a float plane. DD2's friend runs a research vessel for ADFG (Alaska fish and game) so we might try to hook a ride around Prince William Sound. Weather is high of 55 degrees,low 50, rain every day.

I carry all the things you mention in my Maxpedition Gearslinger on the plane, under the seat in front of me. I'm going to try using a multipocket vest on this trip and will transfer gear to that once we get there.

I printed topo maps of the area and also loaded them into my Magellan GPS though I don't think we'll be straying too far into the boonies.

For those of you who read the Wall Street Journal in today's edition (10 August), first page, below the fold is a story on a Frenchman's efforts to preserve the spoken language of the native Eyak people. The town mentioned, Cordova, is where we're headed.

Pictures next week. Hopefully no out of focus, off center, close-up picutres of a bear...

From Doug Ritter's website:
Alaska state law (AS 02.35.110. Emergency Rations and Equipment) was modified a while back to reduce the equipment required to be carried. The current regulations require that no airman may make a flight inside the state with an aircraft unless emergency equipment is carried as follows:

Alaskan and Canadian Survival Kit Regulations

Another article said the owner of the plane had just cleaned it out:

"Erbey said her husband had recently cleaned out the airplane and not yet put back the emergency kit when the group decided to take it up for a quick trip. The visitors were wearing light jackets but not enough for an extended stay on a glacier, she said."

They've had an HH-60 helicopter and a C-130 Hercules circling (for refueling the chopper). It took the four soldiers 21 hours to travel the four miles to the crash.

A slightly more expensive version of the usual, "Oh, we aren't taking anything but a bottle of water with us -- we'll only be gone for a couple of hours".

Well, if it's 90F in Texas, I guess it's warm enough not to take extra clothing in Alaska.

Sue

In one of Ray Mears programs he covers how a people died after their plane came down in the Antartic.
I didn't understand how anyone could freeze with gallons of aviation fuel to burn. What was I missing?
QJS