Too much moose and unsecured antlers caused Mary Peltola’s husband’s plane crash in September 2023, investigators confirmed Tuesday. When the overloaded plane fell, Eugene Buzzy Peltola Jr, 57, was flying a Piper PA-18 alone near St Mary’s, Alaska.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a report detailing how the aircraft exceeded its maximum weight by 117 pounds. The NTSB said that Peltola had flown hunters and their moose meat from a remote area earlier that day without any incident.
After that first trip, he returned for a final load that proved fatal when he added too much cargo. Investigators found that moose meat filled the rear passenger seat and a belly pod that lacked tie-downs for safe transport.
Peltola also strapped moose antlers to the plane’s right wing strut upward and perpendicular to the flight direction. According to the 16-page NTSB report, these decisions affected the plane’s performance, reducing its ability to take off safely.
Officials wrote that hunters watched from the ground as the small plane struggled to lift off and vanished behind a ridge. Though it briefly became airborne, the plane crashed just beyond their view in the opposite direction of the takeoff path.
Two hunters rushed to the scene and gave Peltola first aid, but he died from crash injuries hours later, the report said. Peltola had served as Alaska’s regional Bureau of Indian Affairs director and was once vice mayor of Bethel.
