VAN BIENE MICHAEL B

CWO Michael B Van Biene was a potential VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 08/20/1985 at the age of 39.7 from A/C accident
Flight Classes 66-19 and 66-17
Date of Birth 12/15/1945
Served in the U.S. Army
This information was provided by Tom Lasser

More detail on this person: Michael B Van Biene Seven killed in two plane crashes (GULKANA, Alaska -- Investigators trying to determine the cause of a weekend plane crash that killed four are also attempting to explain why a lear jet with three people aboard crashed 7 miles away from its destination. A chartered Lear jet carrying equipment to a pumping station on the Alaska pipeline crashed 7 miles north of a remote landing strip Tuesday, killing all three men aboard, officials reported. On Sunday, a small float plane crashed into the base of a mountain near Tutna Lake 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, killing all four people on board. The twin-egine Lear 24-D gave no indication of trouble before it went down, said Paul Steucke, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Anchorage. The sky was overcast with a 9,000-foot ceiling and visibility was 7 miles when it crashed near Gulkana about 2 a.m. The dead were identified as David R. Blosser, 38, a pipeline equipment specialist for Alyeska Pipeline Co.; Mark Thomson, 31, the pilot; and Mike Van Biene, 39, the first officer, all of Anchorage. Blosser, an eight-year employee of Alyeska, was delivering parts from Anchorage to a pump station near Gulkana, some 200 miles north of Anchorage. The plane was owned by ERA Helicopters of Anchorage and chartered to Alyeska, ERA President Dave Baumeister said. He said both of the pilots were experienced employees of ERA, which operates about 140 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft worldwide. The plane left Anchorage at 1:30 a.m. for Gulkana. A search for the plane was launched when it did not arrive at Gulkana at 2:05 a.m. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and ERA went to the scene to determine the cause of the crash.

Burial information: Burney Cemetery, Burney, CA

This information was last updated 08/15/2021

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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024