Alaska plane-crash survivor says door opened after takeoff

ANCHORAGE — A chartered plane that crashed into a shallow harbor after taking off from Kodiak Island, killing six people, was carrying a group of fishermen from a dissident sect of the Russian Orthodox Church home for Christmas.

Four people survived the crash Saturday, and one told investigators the door to a baggage compartment in the nose of the small plane had popped open after takeoff.

The Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain, operated by Kodiak-based Servant Air, crashed about 50 yards off the end of a runway after taking off, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. The wreckage was recovered Sunday.

The passengers had been fishing in Kodiak and were taking a short flight north to Homer to celebrate Eastern Orthodox Christmas at home today.

Dean Andrew, pilot of a float plane, was taxiing nearby when he heard the Piper pilot — Robin Starrett, 50, of Kodiak — on the radio saying he needed to return to the airport. Andrew could tell by his voice that something serious was going on.

Soon after, he pulled the four survivors aboard his plane, a difficult job in winds estimated at 25 mph. The survivors, hypothermic and hysterical, pointed out that family members were in the submerged fuselage, Andrew said.

"Once I got the four in, I could see down into the fuselage, but I couldn't see any signs of life," Andrew said.

Clint Johnson, an investigator with the NTSB, said survivor Karnely Ivanov, 32, told investigators that just as the Piper got airborne, the baggage-area door opened at the nose of the plane on the pilot's side. That prompted the pilot to try to return to the airport.

Starrett was killed along with five passengers from Homer: Stefan F. Basargin, 36; Pavel F. Basargin, 30; Zahary F. Martushev, 25; Iosif F. Martushev, 15; and Andrian Reutov, 22, officials said.

Beside Ivanov, the survivors were identified as Feodot Basargin, 33; Andrean V. Basargin, 25; and Anton Rijkoff, 30.