After Beloved Pilot Dies in Crash, 2 Rescue Dogs Rescue Themselves
The New York Times
Seuk Kim was transporting three rescue dogs from Maryland to Albany, N.Y., when his plane crashed in the Catskill Mountains. Two of the dogs managed to survive.
When a pilot on an animal-rescue mission died in a plane crash in upstate New York, a dog he was transporting also died, officials said. But two others survived, including one that was found in a snowy hole he had dug with broken legs.
The pilot, Seuk Kim, 49, was traveling to Albany with three dogs from Maryland when he crashed on Sunday in Windham, N.Y., about 35 miles from Albany in the Catskill Mountains, according to the authorities.
Peter Kusminsky, the Greene County sheriff, said Mr. Kim had experienced poor visibility during the flight and had requested permission to change his altitude because of turbulence in the air.
The sheriff said the authorities subsequently received a no-voice 911 call from Mr. Kim’s phone at about 6:10 p.m., followed by calls from the Air Force and an Albany airport saying that Mr. Kim’s plane had flown off their radars.
Around 11:30 p.m., Sheriff Kusminsky said, rescuers found the plane, a Mooney M20J, amid a large area of debris on the Escarpment Trail. Its wings were disconnected and its cockpit and tail were “severely damaged,” he added. It took rescue teams hours to hike through about a foot of snow in the dark to find the plane, he said.
The rescuers also found two survivors nearby, the sheriff said. Pluto, an 18-month-old Yorkshire terrier mix, was found on a mountain ridge with minor injuries. Whiskey, a Labrador retriever mix, was found in the hole he had dug despite being injured. Whiskey was taken to an animal hospital to be treated for his injuries.
