Kazimierz Miernik Missing Person Case

Aug 21, 2018

Nov 17, 2023

Kazimierz

Miernik

75

68

White / Caucasian

Male

On August 4, 2018, 68-year-old Kazimierz Miernik, a tourist from Poland, embarked on what was meant to be a scenic, one-hour sightseeing flight over the breathtaking landscapes of Denali National Park in Alaska. He was joined by three other Polish nationals, Janusz Intek, Maria Libacka, and Robert Sieniawski, and their American pilot, Craig Layson. Departing from Talkeetna in a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft operated by K2 Aviation, the group anticipated soaring over glaciers and the famed Denali base camp. However, the small plane never completed its journey back, vanishing into the vast and unforgiving wilderness of the Alaska Range. The flight appeared to be proceeding as planned until its GPS satellite tracker abruptly ceased transmitting around 5:45 p.m., shortly after flying over the base camp. An emergency locator transmitter alerted authorities at approximately 6:00 p.m., triggering the start of a search. In the hour following the crash, the pilot, Craig Layson, managed to make two satellite phone calls, reporting that the plane had impacted a mountain and that there were injuries and possibly two fatalities among the passengers. Tragically, both calls were cut short before more detailed information could be relayed, marking the last known communication from the flight. Initial search and rescue efforts were severely hampered by heavy cloud cover and treacherous weather conditions, which prevented aircraft from locating the wreckage for a day and a half. When a brief break in the weather finally occurred, a National Park Service helicopter was able to spot the downed plane. The aircraft had crashed and come to rest within a crevasse high on a knife-edge ridge of Thunder Mountain, at an elevation of nearly 11,000 feet, about 14 miles from Denali's summit. A ranger, lowered by a line from the hovering helicopter, was only able to remain at the site for a few minutes due to the deteriorating weather. In that short time, the ranger discovered the bodies of four of the five individuals inside the snow-filled fuselage. There were no footprints or any signs to suggest that anyone had survived and left the immediate crash site. Several days later, a subsequent visit by a ranger confirmed the location of the fifth victim's body within the wreckage. The overview of this case is one of a scenic tour that ended in a devastating tragedy. The extreme and hazardous conditions at the crash site, located on a steep, unstable hanging glacier, made recovery efforts incredibly dangerous for rescue personnel. The area was prone to avalanches, and the wreckage itself was fractured and unstable, perched precariously above a 3,500-foot drop. Faced with these substantial risks, the National Park Service made the difficult decision to end the recovery operation, concluding that it was not feasible to safely retrieve the bodies of the victims or the aircraft wreckage. All five individuals, including Kazimierz Miernik, have been confirmed deceased but remain unrecovered, entombed within the remote and icy terrain of Thunder Mountain.

Aug 04, 2018

Talkeetna

Alaska

Matanuska-Susitna Borough

No

40656

Alaska State Troopers

Anchorage

Alaska

Anchorage Borough

99507

Malia Miller

Missing Persons Clearinghouse Manager

5700 East Tudor Road, Alaska

9072695511

State

Law Enforcement

AK18055502

2018-08-04

Alaska State Troopers

9916

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

07/15/2026