So Sad

Homer fishermen killed in Kodiak plane crash• Survivors listed as ‘stable’

By Layton Ehmke
Homer Tribune

January 6, 2008 at 05:02 PM

Rescuers respond to the crash site 100 yards off an airstrip in Kodiak.

Early Saturday afternoon a charter plane carrying nine Alaska fishermen and its pilot crashed after takeoff in the waters northeast of Kodiak. The accident occurred just 100 yards off the runway and the plane was initially submerged in the outgoing tide. Two Alaska State Troopers in the patrol boat, Cami'i, responded and recovered the bodies of six men, including the pilot. Four passengers were immediately recovered by an Andrew Airways floatplane, while another passenger was recovered by a U.S. Coast Guard rescue helicopter. Another passenger reportedly swam to shore.
Survivors were taken to Providence Kodiak Medical Center, where they were listed as stable, one critical.
The survivors include Feodot Basargin, age 33, Anchorage; Anton Rijkoff, age 30, of Anchorage; Andrean V. Basargin, age 25, of Homer and Karnely Ivanov, age 32, of Anchor Point.

Pilot Robin R. Starrett, age 50, from Kodiak, died in the crash.

According to friends of the families, the passengers were headed to the Russian villages of Kachemak Selo and Razdolna near Voznesenka to celebrate Russian Orthodox Christmas, which starts on Monday.
The plane, a Servant Air, Piper Navajo Chieftain, initially sank in eight feet of water, which subsided in the outgoing tide. State troopers and the U.S. Coast Guard in Kodiak say the weather at the time was approximately 23 degrees F with 20-knot winds and clear skies.
The NTSB reports that the pilot took off successfully, then reported the cargo door had popped open. He was cleared to take any runway he could find and crashed on re-approach.
The names of the deceased have been released from the troopers. They include the pilot, Robin R. Starrett age 50, from Kodiak; Stefan F. Basargin, age 36 from Homer; Pavel F. Basargin, age 30 from Homer; Zahary F. Martushev, age 25 from Homer; Iosif F. Martushev, age 15 from Homer; and Andrian Reutov, age 22 from Homer.