Plane Crashes
Fly into Merrill Pass this week. Very windy and cold conditions. Been on the road quite a bit this winter, this trip was in an Astar Helicopter out of Anchorage. Merrill Pass is notorious and has aircraft wreckage scattered throughout.
See this post for photos of some of the wreckage. http://www.akphotograph.com/Alaska%20Blog/?p=293
Click on any photo for larger view!
Merrill Pass Sunrise
Flew into Merrill Pass on Friday. Merrill Pass was named after Russell Merrill who discovered this path west through the Alaska Range in 1927. He lost his life in 1929 while flying between Anchorage and Bethel. As you can see, the pass is very narrow. Many pilots have lost their lives 
while trying to push through bad weather. Wreckage can be seen as a reminder of just how dangerous Alaska flying can be.
Merrill known crash sites
Merrill Pass looking west.
Since it was a nice day, we took a short hike up to some planes crash sites. It is a strange feeling standing among wreckage.
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
C-47 crash from 1952
This is an entire wing section. In the background, you can see another crash site. We saw a total of 5 sites on this visit.
Mike
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