Twelve hours on the plane wing, temperatures below zero and in an ice cream lake: thus a pilot and two children survived to a plane crash in Alaska

A pilot and two children were rescued from a plane that fell to an icy lake in Alaska after a night search operation, authorities reported.

The plane Piper Pa-12 Super Cruiser It was reported as missing in the Lake Tustumena area and the Kenai mountains on Sunday at about 22h30 (06h30 GMT on Monday) after it did not return to the scheduled time.

It was a voluntary pilot who observed the ship in the frozen lake, which led to the rescue of the passengers about 12 hours after they were declared as missing.

“Early this morning, the plane of a good Samaritan located the remains of the plane near the eastern shore of Lake Tostemena,” Alaska State Police reported Monday in a statement.

A photo of the partially submerged plane published by the local press seemed to show three people sitting on the wings.

Rescuers ran to locate the three at temperatures below zero degrees at night, according to meteorological reports.

The pilot and the children were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, the statement said. Dale Eicher, one of several pilots who participated in the search, commented that the passengers were lucky to survive.

“I did not expect us to find them and did not expect us to be alive,” Ktuu told local television. “I have made some bailouts in the past and it doesn’t always end good,” he said.