Survivor, Alaska Style

An Alaska pilot clearly made the best of his bad luck this week. In fact, his forced landing and/or crash in a remote area of Alaska sounds, from initial reports, like a week at the beach (a very cold one). On Saturday, the crew aboard a Coast Guard C-130 found Michael Holman, 46, of Wasilla, beside a bonfire at Dogfish Bay, about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. The Hercules was on a training mission unrelated to the search for Holman. He was spotted outside the 3,600-square-mile search area. He told the Coast Guard crew, via handheld radio, that he had plenty of food and water and was staying in a cabin. Rescuers weren’t able to reach him Saturday and he was to have been picked up on Sunday. Details of the cause of his impromptu vacation were sketchy and it’s not known what happened to the Maule ML-7 he was flying, although Maj. Chris Kobi, of the National Guard’s Rescue Coordination Center, said there were some reports the plane was destroyed or washed out to sea. Holman left last Monday on a flight from Palmer to Seldovia, which is about 25 miles from where he was found. Searchers were optimistic he would be found alive. He was described as an experienced former United Air Lines pilot who carried survival gear. Wonder if he took his fishing rod with him?