Alaska Pilot, Passengers Foil Attempted Murder-Suicide
A flight to Aniak, Alaska Airport came close to a tragic end.
In single-pilot aircraft, non-pilot passengers are often welcome in the right front seat. But Joshua Kersch, a Cessna Caravan pilot for Ryan Air, declined such a request on a 76-NM flight from Bethel to Aniak, Alaska, perhaps saving his life and those of five passengers.
On July 7, 18-year-old Jaden Lake-Kameroff of Bethel boarded the scheduled Ryan Air flight. A spokesman for the Alaska State Troopers told the Anchorage Daily News, “Lake-Kameroff had asked the pilot to fly the plane … during the flight and initially asked to sit in the unoccupied copilot seat. Both requests were denied by the pilot.”