Misty Fjord with Sea Wind Aviation ???

[ilovetravel123]

Has anyone done a seaplane tour of Misty Fjord with Sea Wind Aviation? If so, do you recommend them? Thanks.

[FSUFAN]

Never been, but DW and I are signed up to go May 6th.

[1stcruiser1]

We went last August and loved it. I would book again.

[themerle]

Has anyone done a seaplane tour of Misty Fjord with Sea Wind Aviation? If so, do you recommend them? Thanks.

We did the seaplane tour of Misty Fjord with Sea Wind last July and really enjoyed it. The pilot who we had was Steve. He was very informative and would answer any questions we had. The scenery was beautiful and the landing on the lake was so special. It was so peaceful and not a sound except for a waterfall. I would do it again!!!!!!!

[NancyIL]

I'm surprised to see the company is still in business, after last summer's fatal crash.

[FSUFAN]

I'm surprised to see the company is still in business, after last summer's fatal crash.

They are still in business. Steve's wife called me about flying with them after I had sent them an e-mail....I am going with Island Wings and not Sea Wind as earlier stated. I got them mixed up because they were the 2 that I chose between.

[bearbait]

I'm surprised to see the company is still in business, after last summer's fatal crash.

 

I have no clue why your so negative. If you don't like to fly quit commenting. It's getting really old.

 

Why wouldn't Seawind Avaition be back in business? Accidents happen. Life happens. Steve is an excellent pilot. I'd fly with him anytime and probably will again this summer.

 

How can anyone possibly have control over a "wind burst or shear"? They aren't like tornado's, you can't see them.

 

If the FAA thought he was wrong or negligent they would have revoked his ticket and not let them get back in business.

[2ndguesser]

WOw - now I'm nervous. We just booked bear excursion with Seawind Aviation. I felt so comfortable with them on the phone. Accidents do happen though. Does anyone know the details to put my mind at ease? Was it really a wind shear?

[NancyIL]

I have no clue why your so negative. If you don't like to fly quit commenting. It's getting really old.

 

Why wouldn't Seawind Avaition be back in business? Accidents happen. Life happens. Steve is an excellent pilot. I'd fly with him anytime and probably will again this summer.

 

How can anyone possibly have control over a "wind burst or shear"? They aren't like tornado's, you can't see them.

 

If the FAA thought he was wrong or negligent they would have revoked his ticket and not let them get back in business.

I had read no updates here as to Steve's health after the accident last summer. I would not have expected a small family business to survive that kind of devastating accident - but I'm glad that they are able to continue. My "so negative" comments have to do with MY experience doing a Misty Fjords flight last June - which was weather-related and not operator related. I will try flying again this summer - but not in Ketchikan.

[ilovetravel123]

Thanks everyone for their comments.

[lovesublime]

Steve is still in business. He has hired two very experienced Alaskan pilots to work for him. Steve is not flying at this time as he is still recovering from his injuries. The accident does seem to have been weather related.

 

For those who are curious, Steve crashed last August while on a bear viewing excursion-not a Misty Fjords flight. Six people died. One entire family was lost, including 3 year old twins, both their parents and their grandfather. Steve's crash came only a month or so after another crash killed five in Misty Fjords (different company). That one also appears to have been weather related.

 

we flew with Steve last year and found him to be competent and he has over 20,000 flying hours (that is a LOT). I would not do it again in Alaska just because I think Alaska has weather issues. I don't know if Steve did a quick check of the weather before taking off, but if there was downdraft activity in the area he should have never taken off. I'm assuming he followed proper procedure.

 

I see no reason why his business cannot continue. He has good insurance I'm sure and what else can he do. It's his profession, he has to earn a living. He has three very young children to take care of.

 

bearbait-right, that you cannot 'see' downdrafts, however downdraft or microburst activity is detectable and should always be assumed when the weather is changing-such as rain or thunderstorms moving in. Also, the NTSB has not concluded their investigation into Steve's accident, although they have ruled out that the plane was overloaded or had engine problems.

[diverearl]

WOw - now I'm nervous. We just booked bear excursion with Seawind Aviation. I felt so comfortable with them on the phone. Accidents do happen though. Does anyone know the details to put my mind at ease? Was it really a wind shear?

 

We flew with Steve last June and will fly with them again as soon as we get back to Ketchikan. The FAA found Steve had no fault whatsoever in the accident. We have been in touch with him and Lesley several times throughout the year, and Steve is doing well. Go and have a good time.

 

Just click on this sight to see a picture of the dock you will stop at on the Misty Fjords landing with Seawind. http://image24.webshots.com/565/7/93/47/2351793470091393226OLkEjA_fs.jpg

[Chat Noir]

WOw - now I'm nervous. We just booked bear excursion with Seawind Aviation. I felt so comfortable with them on the phone. Accidents do happen though. Does anyone know the details to put my mind at ease? Was it really a wind shear?

 

I don't care for small planes due to airsick issues, however, I wouldn't hesitate to book with a company who has had a fatal crash otherwise (maybe I need to take a pill and get over it?). I suspect this company has been thoroughly examined in order to stay in business... same for the other excursion companies who've experienced tragedies.

 

Remember the woman who was killed last year when she walked in the blindspot of Ketchikan's Ride-The-Ducks. Both feet on the ground... and if I recall, just not paying attention while crossing the driving zone over to the ship.

 

Enjoy your trip!!!:)

[2ndguesser]

Thanks everyone for making me feel a little better. We are still going with SeaWind. I had a good repore with Lesley on the phone and personally would rather give my money to a small family business. I figure what are the chances that this could happen to the same company again? One would think they are even more cautious now. There is risk taking any small planes (IMO) but there is risk crossing the street too. I just hope I make it back safely to my own 3 small children. So I'll say a prayer or two, cross my fingers and go.

[gatewaygirl]

"we flew with Steve last year and found him to be competent and he has over 20,000 flying hours (that is a LOT). I would not do it again in Alaska just because I think Alaska has weather issues. I don't know if Steve did a quick check of the weather before taking off, but if there was downdraft activity in the area he should have never taken off. I'm assuming he followed proper procedure."

 

Steve does a weather check before each flight, and did so on this flight. He received a weather check from Carlin Air who had just returned from Traitors Cove, and Jeff reported that it was flat calm. It was infact flat calm when Steve landed in Traitors also, but the winds developed up high as he was standing by, and a wind sheer forced the plane down on take off. He couldnt see these winds. There wernt on the surface, but rather up high. Another pilot just landed with her passengers at Traitors Cove 30 minutes before Steve took off, and other pilots were flying from Neets bay, which is just above Traitors. The weather was not forecasted. You might check out the ntsb report and look under the Meteorological information which states there was an abrupt wind change, and also that the "weather was uncommon for this area." http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=ANC07MA083&rpt=fa

[Excited to go crusing]

qw flew with Seawind in Sept & I'd use them again. Very nice people.

[justducky19]

I have never read so much childish hand wringing in my life! Alaska IS a dangerous state. This is the reason so many people want to visit and cruise in Alaska. If it was central Kansas do you think anybody would say it was someplace they "always wanted to see"?

 

Why worry about a little plane ride when you can worry about the ship sinking or rolling over or catching on fire? That has happened in Southeast Alaska with fair regularity. I have personally seen the pictures of at least one cruise liner with smoke pouring out of it. I won't even mention the groundings that have occurred around the same area. Good grief folks at least find something worth worrying about before you start whining!

 

As for the aviation accident rate in southeast Alaska and Alaska in general, most of the pilots (male and female) that have any longevity in the business have had an accident or incident or two that "you" are not aware of. You can't be in that business in that area for an extended period without running into some problems. Again, if you are a worrier, possibly you better reconsider leaving your bed.

 

Some of the pilots that you might ride with fly year-round not just in the good summer months when the flying is easy, so cut them a little slack. Sometimes stuff just happens. I also read that some of you are pilots or are related to pilots or are even daring enough to own your own airplane. It has been my experience that the genuinely experienced and talented ones usually won't venture a comment on another pilots accident because they are wise enough to know that someday some fool might be commenting on theirs.

 

I have been on several cruises to Alaska and really enjoy the "Misty" flight tours. I have ridden with many of the carriers and I have my favorites. Steve with SEAWIND is always my first choice as I flew with him when he was chief pilot for one of the big operators. Jeff with CARLIN AIR is my favorite standby. He is also a very talented and experienced pilot. My research shows these are the ones the locals ride with all year-round. I will be booking with either one of them on my next cruise.

[Rickysha]

We flew with Steve in July 2009 in Misty Fjords area.

The scenery was absolutely amazing and Steve is very good pilot.

The landing on the lake was so gentle we barely could feel it.

I am not big fun of flying especially on the small planes,

but it was so beautiful around that after a few minutes of flight

I forgot about all my worries. After flight Lesley was so nice and offered us ride to the Saxman village.

I would recommend Sea Wind Aviation.

They are nice people and very customer oriented.

[chrisinroch]

Not sure if this is even an issue, but some of the operators have permits to land on the beach and some don't. If you expect to get out and splash around a bit vs hanging in the middle of the lake with the doors open, you should check whether your operator (and your flight length) allows this.

[gatewaygirl]

Most independant operators go to the shoreline and have permits with the forest service to do so, however, this is the call of the pilot. Be sure to ask the company when you call them. The larger companies do not go to the shoreline as their tour time is shorter. They land in the middle of the lake for a few minutes, and let you out on the airplane floats. If you book on your cruise ship, you fly with the larger two companies in town.

[diverearl]

Here are a couple of pictures of the landing we made on our Misty Fjords flight with Steve of Sea Wind Aviation. When we started to take off from our mid flight stop another pilot called Steve and told him there was a bear on a nearby beach so he eased off the throttle and taxied on the water over to the small cove. We were all very impressed with his smooth flying skills and his friendly personality. We also really appreciated the second stop for the brown bear viewing, he didn't have to tell us he knew the bear was there.

 

[travelteam]

Most independant operators go to the shoreline and have permits with the forest service to do so, however, this is the call of the pilot. Be sure to ask the company when you call them. The larger companies do not go to the shoreline as their tour time is shorter. They land in the middle of the lake for a few minutes, and let you out on the airplane floats. If you book on your cruise ship, you fly with the larger two companies in town.[/quote]

 

 

and which companies would that be?

[Budget Queen]

Most independant operators go to the shoreline and have permits with the forest service to do so, however, this is the call of the pilot. Be sure to ask the company when you call them. The larger companies do not go to the shoreline as their tour time is shorter. They land in the middle of the lake for a few minutes, and let you out on the airplane floats. If you book on your cruise ship, you fly with the larger two companies in town.[/quote]

 

 

and which companies would that be?

 

Island Wings and Southeast Aviation are highly recommended by myself, having flown with them both several times. You do need to verify current landing options, with anyone you book.

 

Ship contracts are with Taquan and Promech.

[LA_FadeAway]

Is Princess still using Taquan? Last I heard they had canceled that contract after the Taquan crash in 2007. Just wondering who they are using now.

[bearbait]

I'm surprised to see the company is still in business, after last summer's fatal crash.

 

You know your comments could almost be taken as slanderous. I've flown with Steve numerous times and wouldn't haveany problem climbing in with him again. I've already survived one plane crash on the tundra and when the maker calls you home it's gonna happen.

 

Accidents happen. Steve's an excellent pilot and unfortunately he nor any other pilot can control mother nature.