Latest Alaska Headlines

All the headlines from our Alaska Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Lawmakers Urge Expanded Safety and Mental Health Programs for Commercial Fishermen

Dec 14 2023 // A federal program that protects the health and wellbeing of commercial fishermen should be expanded to include substance use disorder and worker fatigue, a group of lawmakers from New England and Alaska said. The lawmakers...

Authorities in Alaska Suspend Search After Deadly Landslide

Dec 8 2023 // Authorities have suspended the search for the 12-year-old boy still missing following a deadly landslide in the southeast Alaska community of Wrangell. Five people have been confirmed killed in the landslide and their...

Five Family Members And a Commercial Fisherman Neighbor Killed in Alaska Landslide

Nov 27 2023 // Authorities identified those missing or killed in an Alaska landslide this week as five family members and their neighbor, a commercial fisherman who made a longshot bid for the state`s lone seat in the U. S. House last...

Three Passengers Sue Alaska Airlines After Off-Duty Pilot Accused of Trying to Cut Engines

Nov 6 2023 // Three passengers sued Alaska Airlines, saying they suffered emotional distress from an incident last month in which an off-duty pilot is accused of trying to shut down the engines of a plane while catching a ride in the...

How Safe Are Cockpits? Aviation Experts Weigh in After Recent Security Scare

Oct 26 2023 // The attempt by an off-duty pilot to shut down the engines of a U.S. airliner in midflight highlights the threat that insiders pose to aviation safety with their ability to go where passengers are prohibited. Events like...

Oregon Prosecutors Charge Off-Duty Pilot Accused of Trying to Cut Engines on Midflight Jet with Attempted Murder

Oct 25 2023 // Oregon prosecutors have charged an off-duty pilot accused of trying to cut the engines on a Horizon Air jet in mid-air with 83 counts of attempted murder. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office in Portland...

Report: Pilot Error, Training Issues Factors in Alaska Crash That Killed Czech Billionaire

Oct 2 2023 // The probable cause of a heli-skiing crash in Alaska in 2021 that killed a Czech billionaire and four others was a failure by the pilot to adequately respond to whiteout conditions, a federal accident report concluded. The...

US Wildfire Fighters Are Hitting a Pay Cliff at the Worst Time

Sep 25 2023 // In Fairbanks, Alaska, the US Forest Service is looking to hire a smokejumper, a person who parachutes out of a rickety airplane to wrangle wildfires that break out far from roads or rivers. Little experience is necessary;...

Extreme Weather Forcing JFK, Other Airports to Redesign Runways, Systems

Sep 22 2023 // (Bloomberg) — Airports around the world are relocating sensitive electrical equipment to rooftops to protect it from flooding, reinforcing runways to handle extreme temperature swings and revving up air conditioning...

Bursting Ice Dam in Alaska Highlights Risks of Glacial Flooding

Aug 9 2023 // The gray, two-story home with white trim toppled and slid, crashing into the river below as rushing waters carried off a bobbing chunk of its roof. Next door, a condo building teetered on the edge of the bank, its...

Glacial Dam Outburst in Alaska Eroded Riverbanks, Destroyed at Least 2 Buildings

Aug 8 2023 // Raging waters that ate away at riverbanks, destroyed at least two buildings and damaged others had receded Monday in Alaska`s capital city after an outburst of weekend flooding from a glacial lake, authorities said. Levels...

Alaska Volcano Eruption Eases After Massive Ash Cloud

Jul 19 2023 // An ongoing eruption of a remote volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands produced an ash cloud so large this week that warnings were sent to pilots about potentially dangerous conditions. An ash cloud with an initial...

Alaska Volcano Spews Ash Cloud High Enough to Draw Weather Service Warning for Pilots

Jul 17 2023 // An erupting volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands sent a towering cloud of ash into the air Friday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue an inflight warning to pilots. The Shishaldin Volcano began erupting...

Man Sues Alaska Troopers, Says His Job Offer Yanked After HIV Status Revealed

Jun 12 2023 // A Salt Lake City man who says his job offer to become an Alaska State Trooper was rescinded after he disclosed he was HIV positive filed a lawsuit in state court Thursday to get his position on the statewide police force...

Worker in Alaska Dies After Triggering Avalanche

May 9 2023 // An employee in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve died when he was caught in an avalanche in the backcountry, not far from the park’s entrance, officials said. Eric Walter, who provided radio-based...

Wildfires in Alaska? Climate Change Sparks Disaster Fears

May 1 2023 // Research on a flat spot for air evacuations. Talk of old-style civil defense sirens to warn of fast-moving wildfires. Hundreds of urban firefighters training in wildland firefighting techniques while snow still blankets...

Family of Czech Billionaire Sues for Negligence in Alaska Crash Death

Apr 14 2023 // The family of a Czech billionaire who died in a heli-skiing crash in Alaska in 2021 says in a lawsuit that he survived the impact but succumbed to his injuries in the hours between the crash and when rescue personnel...

Three Alaska Native Tribes Suing to Block Major Gold Mine Project

Apr 13 2023 // Three Alaska Native tribes have sued to block what they say would be one of the largest gold mines in the world, arguing that federal agencies failed to properly analyze health and environmental concerns for the project in...

Alaska Oil Project Construction Allowed as Lawsuits Play out

Apr 5 2023 // Construction can proceed related to a major oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope after a federal judge on Monday rejected requests to halt work until challenges to the Biden administration’s...

ConocoPhillips Details Gas Leak Cause, Remedies at Alaska Hearing

Mar 27 2023 // ConocoPhillips, which last week received U.S. government approval for the massive Willow oil drilling project in Alaska, detailed reasons for a natural gas leak at another North Slope field that prompted the evacuation of...