‘Flying Wild Alaska’ Star Pilot Who Died in Plane Crash Paid Tribute

Jim Tweto, the patriarch of the family of bush pilots who starred on the Discovery Channel series Flying Wild Alaska, died when the small plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff on Friday, Alaskan authorities said. He was 68.

A passenger in Tweto’s Cessna 180, Idaho hunting guide Shane Reynolds, was also killed in the crash, which occurred a few dozen miles northeast of the coastal village of Shaktoolik. Reynolds was 45.

A report on the incident by Alaska State Troopers said that the plane “was witnessed taking off but not climbing and then crashing,” according to the Anchorage Daily News. The witness was a third person in the group’s hunting party who’d stayed on the ground, the newspaper reported.

A transplant to Unalakleet, Alaska, by way of Kansas and Minnesota, according to the Associated Press, Tweto starred on the Discovery documentary series for three seasons alongside his wife and their three daughters. The show, which ran from January 2011 to July 2012, followed the family as they ran Era Alaska, a small regional airline that served remote communities along the Bering Sea coastline.

Ariel Tweto, his second daughter, shared the news of her father’s death on Saturday. “I didn’t think anything could hurt this bad,” she wrote on Instagram. “... And id take any other type of pain if he could just land today.”

She also posted a link to an online fundraiser for Reynolds’ family, which had surpassed its $60,000 goal by Sunday night.

On Sunday, Ariel posted more photos of her father to Instagram. “Happy Fathers Day dad,” she said. “I know you’re with all of us right now. I can’t write you my usual long sappy message because our house is full of family and friends and youd give me an eye roll if you saw me on my phone so I won’t.”

“But I love you,” she wrote, adding a heart emoji.

Ariel, who has a recurring voice role on the 2021 Fox animated series The Great North, “has run every day since May of 2002,” according to an archived version of her biography on the Discovery Channel’s website. On Sunday, she was back out on a running trail.

In a video posted to her Instagram Story, Ariel explained she was taking a break on that day’s run, and that she normally ran alone. “I just had a wonderful thought, because whenever I run, normally I call my dad between my running and walking,” she said from behind the camera. “But now, instead of calling him, he gets to go all over the world with me. So now my runs are gonna be runs with Dad.”

Ariel became audibly emotional as she went on to wish a “happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.”

“You guys have an opportunity, fathers out there,” she said. “Really have an opportunity to make a difference in your kids’ lives. So show up for them. Call them all the time. Hug them when you see them… Yeah, happy Father’s Day.”

An investigation into the crash by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration remains ongoing.

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