Alaska's Bush Pilots

Since their earliest days, Alaska's bush pilots have earned a reputation for boldness and skill, saving lives and connecting remote communities for over 100 years. The bush is remote wilderness, and these pilots navigate Alaska's hard-to-reach lands where cars, trains and boats cannot travel. They fly over and land on glaciers, mountains and large ponds, facing storms, avalanches and dangerous mountain peaks. Bush pilots carry hunters and fishers to isolated camps, climbers to mountains and mail to secluded homes, and they respond to medical emergencies and rescue people who live far from hospitals. They risk their lives, and many have died saving others. For much of the 20th century, they flew in fragile planes with little advanced technology, and although today's pilots have better technology and weather forecasting, the job remains dangerous.

Trapper Creek, Alaska · United States