NTSB: Plane overloaded with moose meat, antlers during takeoff in crash that killed former Rep. Mary Peltola’s husband

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A crash that killed former Rep. Mary Peltola’s husband, Eugene, in rural Alaska during a 2023 hunting trip was caused by the plane being overloaded with moose meat and antlers that hung on one side of the small aircraft, according to the final report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB’s final report was released Tuesday and laid out in detail all of the agency’s investigative findings that led to the death of Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr. at 57 years old.

The report coincides with a lawsuit filed by the former Alaska U.S. Representative on Friday alleging negligence against the owner of the aircraft’s companies.

Peltola was piloting the Piper PA 18-150 Super Cub when it went down in the mountains northeast of St. Mary’s in Southwest Alaska on Sept. 12, 2023.

Initial reports indicated that the plane Peltola was flying solo crashed soon after takeoff from a remote airstrip in a mountainous region in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Peltola had been flying a small group of hunters into the area and was flying back moose meat and antlers when the crash occurred.

The final report by the NTSB concluded that the plane was roughly 117 pounds overweight — or about 6% over its maximum takeoff limit — when Peltola departed from the site where the hunters met up with him.

The agency’s preliminary report released weeks after the crash said the plane was carrying over 500 pounds of moose meat when Peltola took off.

The final report also stated that a pair of moose antlers were attached to the right wing strut of the plane, which likely would have led to difficulties in taking off when taking into account the excess weight and aerodynamic drag of the antlers.

The report said that while planes carrying antlers on the outside of aircraft is a “common practice” in Alaska, it still requires formal approval by the Federal Aviation Administration.

“There was no evidence that such approval had been granted for the accident airplane,” the report states.

The plane was so heavy that even after flying to its destination, the plane would still have been about 180 pounds over its max landing weight, even after the fuel load burned off during the flight.

“Number one was, obviously, the overweight condition — no ifs, ands, or buts there,” Clint Johnson, the Alaska Region Chief for NTSB, said. “The parasitic drag from the antlers that were attached to the right wing, and then also the last thing would be the wind, the mechanical wind turbulence at the end of the takeoff area, which unfortunately, led to this accident.

“If you would have been able to take one of those items out, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation. But those things all in combination led to this tragic accident.”

The plane itself also had undergone many repairs and restorations in its 70-year lifespan, the investigation found, and many of those changes occurred before the FAA’s newer guidelines on performing such changes. The report said the effects those repairs may have had on the crash are unknown.

Peltola survived the initial impact of the crash, according to the NTSB, but died within a few hours.

When reached by phone on Tuesday, Mary Peltola declined to comment on the NTSB’s findings.

According to the civil suit filed in Bethel Superior Court on Friday, July 18, it alleges that the defendants Bruce Werba, and two companies under his control, Alaska Pike Safari’s & Wilderness Adventures and Neitz Aviation, Inc., acted negligently by causing Peltola Jr. “to fly excessive hours, to fly without adequate sleep or rest, to fly under unreasonably dangerous conditions, and to carry an external load without the required permit.”

The external load, according to the NTSB report, was the moose antlers attached to the right wing.

The suit further alleges that as an employee of the defendants, Peltola Jr. was not provided workers’ compensation as the defendants failed to obtain a certificate of self-insurance from the Alaska Division of Workers’ Compensation covering him at the time of the crash.

According to court documents, the suit is seeking damages of at least $100,000 and a jury trial.

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