By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
Howard Holtan, a 61-year-old pilot and long-time volunteer for the Girdwood Mighty Mites ski program died in a plane crash Saturday, Sept. 22. The plane crashed in the afternoon near Lake Shrode in Prince William Sound.
Holtan’s wife, Roberta Carney, 47, was severely injured in the crash and was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center.
Holtan had a second home in Girdwood and for 27 years played a large role in the Mighty Mites program.
“He was just a great guy and a great human being, and he put his heart and soul into the program and was there every weekend and was a good person to work with,” said Dave Wilson, Mountain Manager for Alyeska Resort.
In addition to his work with the Mighty Mites, Holtan worked on the Winner Creek Master Planning Project and assisted on a few of the road projects in Girdwood.
“We did some work together because he was an engineer with the city on community projects,” said Wilson.
Trooper Sgt. Bryan Barlow said the couple was spending the day flying from lake to lake. Holtan was accompanied by a friend, flying another airplane. The friend called for a search party when he could not make radio contact, said Barlow. According to the Alaska Air National Guard, hikers saw Holtan’s Cessna 180 floatplane go down shortly after take-off and radioed to a boat in the area.
Holtan was an employee with the city for 16 years working on various municipal projects like the new convention center. But locally, it was his work with the Mighty Mites that people remembered.
“Loosing Howard to the Mighty Might’s program will probably take three people to replace him,” said Linda Bennett, who has a second home in Girdwood and is very active in the community. “It’s a tremendous loss. He attended all the meetings; he was always very approachable and easy to talk to. He was there every week. He handed out trophies, he kept the times. It was all volunteer work. He was just always there. We’re going to really miss him. It’s a huge loss.”
Former Girdwood resident, Tom Beatty, was among four people killed in a plane crash Sunday afternoon, Sept. 30 in Katmai National Park and Preserve after their aircraft crashed near Nonvianuk Lake.
A pilot, guide and two passengers from Royal Wolf Lodge were returning to the lodge from a fishing trip between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. when the accident occurred. The pilot had made contact with the lodge saying he expected to be back at about 4 p.m. When the plane had not landed 45 minutes later, aircraft from the lodge were sent to search and the wreckage was found at about 5:15 p.m. near the lodge. Lodge employees went by boat and hiked to the crash site and confirmed there were no survivors. The plane, a Helio Courier on floats belonging to Branham Adventures and leased to Royal Wolf Lodge had crashed into trees 6 miles from the lodge.
The other three passengers who died in the crash were guests Greg Brophy, 44, and Sean Brophy, 49, from Ontario, Canada, and the pilot, who has not been identified at this time.
Beatty, 38, was a guide on the trip. He recently moved from Girdwood to Homer. Beatty was a Challenge Alaska employee from 1999 to 2006 working as the Assistant Ski School Director.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated. Nonvianuk Lake is in the northern portion of the Katmai National Park and Preserve, about 50 miles northwest of King Salmon. The lodge is on private property within the preserve.