Samuel Wright, III Missing Person Case

Aug 28, 2024

Aug 28, 2024

Samuel

Wright, III

80

78

69 inches

168 lbs

White / Caucasian

Male

On July 20, 2024, a journey home for two Yakutat residents turned into a tragic mystery that gripped the tight-knit aviation community of Southeast Alaska. Samuel "Sam" Wright, III, a 78-year-old seasoned pilot from Haines, was flying his 1948 Beechcraft Bonanza A35 aircraft and had departed from Juneau, Alaska. On board were his passengers, Hans Munich and Tanya Hutchins, a couple who owned the Coastal Air Service charter flight business in Yakutat. Their own commercial flight back to Yakutat had been canceled, and a mutual friend arranged for Wright to fly them home. Wright, an experienced aviator with decades of flying in the region, was at the controls of his distinctive and speedy silver aircraft, a plane described as his commuter. The group departed Juneau for the flight to Yakutat, a trip that should have taken about an hour, but they never reached their destination. The alarm was raised later that evening when the aircraft failed to arrive in Yakutat as expected. A friend who had been tracking the flight online noted that the plane's radar signal had abruptly stopped near Mount Crillon, in the rugged and formidable Fairweather Mountain Range, at an altitude of about 10,000 feet. This sudden loss of contact prompted an immediate and large-scale search and rescue operation. The U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska State Troopers, and the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center dispatched helicopters, planes, and a cutter to scour the mountainous area where the signal was last detected. The search was incredibly challenging, hampered by the high altitude, significant cloud coverage, and the vast, unforgiving terrain of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. After three days of intensive searching yielded no definitive signs of the aircraft, the official search was suspended, a difficult decision in the face of the unknown. In the wake of the official suspension, the close community of Alaskan pilots and friends refused to give up hope, launching an extensive private search effort. Fellow pilots flew their personal aircraft, poring over the high-resolution photographs of the search area, desperate to find any trace of their missing friends. These efforts eventually led to the discovery of an area of "disturbance," which authorities later confirmed was the apparent crash site and a factor in the decision to halt the official search. The loss was a devastating blow to the communities of Haines and Yakutat, who mourned three individuals deeply connected to the Alaskan way of life. An obituary later confirmed that Hans Munich and his partner, Tanya Hutchins, were killed in the plane crash. The case remains a heartbreaking reminder of the inherent risks of flying in Alaska's wild and beautiful landscape, where seasoned pilots like Sam Wright, Hans Munich, and their passenger Tanya Hutchins tragically vanished into the remote and unforgiving Fairweather mountains.

Jul 20, 2024

Gustavus

Alaska

Hoonah–Angoon Census Area

No

152043

Alaska State Troopers

Anchorage

Alaska

Anchorage Borough

99507

Malia Miller

Missing Persons Clearinghouse Manager

5700 East Tudor Road, Alaska

9072695511

State

Law Enforcement

AK24071404

2024-07-20

Alaska State Troopers

3659

Gray or Partially Gray

Blue

Blue

07/15/2026