Shane Reynolds and Jim Tweto Obituary: “Flying Wild Alaska’s” Jim Tweto and Idaho guide killed in Western Alaska plane crash.
Jim Tweto, a well-known Unalakleet bush pilot and figure in rural aviation who starred in the Discovery Channel series “Flying Wild Alaska,” passed away on Friday, according to authorities, in a plane crash in Western Alaska that also claimed the life of an Idaho outdoor guide.
Around 11:48 on Friday morning, Alaska State Troopers were informed of an SOS activation and that a Cessna 180 had crashed 35 miles northeast of Shaktoolik.
The plane “was seen taking off but not climbing and then crashing,” according to troopers’ report, which was posted late on Friday night. The two people aboard the aircraft, named as Tweto, 68, and Shane Reynolds, 45, of Orofino, Idaho, were later confirmed by fresh information to be deceased, the agency said.
Their hunting party’s third member, who had remained on the ground, saw the plane crash.
According to their report, both men’s bodies were found at the crash site on Friday by troopers dispatched from Nome.
The men’s relatives were informed, and their remains were transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage, according to the troopers.