It was a tragic ending to an around the clock search for the victims of an Alaska plane crash on Saturday evening.
Officials say four people were found dead, one missing and presumed to be dead, after a pilot and four passengers crashed during a flight-seeing tour in Alaska's Danali National Park.
The man who piloted that plane is from metro Detroit and is identified by family as Craig Layson from Saline.
On Saturday evening, the De Havilland Beaver Aircraft operated by K2 aviation went down.
Upon impact, the pilot was able to make two satellite phone calls, where he reported all had survived but that there were injuries. That was the last known communication.
Hoping to find the survivors, rescuers went to work but faced a big challenge to find the wreckage amid heavy cloud cover and low visibility.
Today, nearly 48 hours later, searchers finally spotted the crash site in steep, icy terrain, dashing hopes of finding survivors. Instead, rescuers found the victims body. One victim is still missing, though presumed dead.
The status of Layson is unclear. Family declined an on camera interview with 7 Action News, but the family did confirm that Layson is a husband, a father of three, was raised and educated in metro Detroit and is the owner of Stony Creek collision shop in Ypsilanti.
The family says Layson has decades of flying experience under his belt, something he’s been doing since he was a teenager.
