Alaska Pilot Convicted by Jury for Obstructing Investigations for the 2014 Atigun Pass Airplane Crash

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that on Nov. 25, 2019, an Anchorage jury convicted Forest M. Kirst, 62, of Fairbanks, Alaska, of two counts of obstruction of proceedings before federal agencies.

Trial evidence demonstrated that a Ryan Navion airplane piloted by Kirst, d/b/a Kirst Aviation, was involved in an accident near Atigun Pass, Alaska, on Aug. 24, 2014. Three Canadian tourists were passengers aboard the airplane on a one-day sightseeing excursion before beginning an Alaska cruise. Kirst left Bettles, Alaska, and began flying too low over infrastructure. After circling over a moose in a pond, the airplane lacked the power and altitude to clear Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range. The airplane crashed on the side of the mountain below the Dalton Highway and above a pipeline maintenance road.

Fortunately, numerous people were in the vicinity maintaining the Dalton Highway and servicing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and were able to respond to the crash. All passengers sustained serious injuries and one of the passengers died 35-days later as a result of his injuries. The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Kirst’s airman certificate was revoked by the FAA following the accident and Kirst appealed the revocation.   

Kirst was convicted of lying to the NTSB and FAA during agency proceedings when he stated during an interview with NTSB officials that he was at a higher altitude than GPS evidence showed, and lying during the FAA administrative hearings when he testified that his airplane dropped in altitude approximately 1,500 feet just prior to the crash. 

The NTSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States, among other duties. The NTSB conducts investigations to determine the “probable cause” of transportation accidents and to formulate safety recommendations to improve transportation safety.  The NTSB also serves as the “court of appeals” for any airman whenever certificate actions, such as a revocation, have been taken by the FAA.

Sentencing is scheduled Feb. 20, 2020, before United States District Court Judge Ralph R. Beistline. Kirst faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or both. Under federal sentencing statutes, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

The Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of this case.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Retta Randall and Charisse Arce.