Missing Alaska Medical Helicopter Found

Searchers on Saturday found one body and some wreckage from a medical helicopter missing since Monday, a spokesman for the rescue effort said.

The body of John Stumpff, 47, a flight nurse from Sterling, washed up on the north shore of Passage Canal near Whittier, in Prince William Sound, said McHugh Pierre, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The State Medical Examiners Office took custody of the body, the Alaska State Troopers said. Next of kin have been notified.

The aircraft was heading from Cordova to an Anchorage hospital when it disappeared in blowing snow Monday evening.

The other three people on board the Eurocopter BK 117 were patient Gaye McDowell, 60, of Cordova; pilot Lance Brabham, 42, of Soldotna, and paramedic Cameron Carter, 25, of Kenai.

Searchers on Saturday also found some wreckage that has been identified as coming from the LifeGuard Alaska helicopter, including the left rear sliding door, Pierre said. The identification was made by both the National Transportation Safety Board and the company which leased the helicopter. The wreckage also washed up on shore, Pierre said.

The search was to resume before dawn Sunday.

"We're going to assume there are survivors," he said, citing warm weather as favorable conditions for survival.

The helicopter crew last made contact with operators shortly after 5 p.m. Monday as they flew near Esther Island, about 75 miles southeast of Anchorage, according to officials with the Air National Guard, which was leading the search. The trip from Cordova to Anchorage is about 150 miles by air and usually takes about 90 minutes.

Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage reported the aircraft overdue after the crew failed to check in for position updates.

LifeGuard Alaska is an air ambulance service operated by Providence. The missing helicopter is among two leased from Evergreen Helicopters of Alaska Inc., which provides the pilots and maintenance.