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Palmer pilot flips his plane in the Knik River

by Jason Moore
Thursday, April 30, 2009

PALMER, Alaska -- A Palmer pilot is lucky to be alive after a stunt this weekend that left him in trouble with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Cody Kern saw it go down.

Kern and his family were on the Knik River, in the shadow of Pioneer Peak on Saturday.

"We were just out kind of having a family day," Kern said.

Kern had his cell phone, which was also equipped to shoot video.

Kern pulled the phone out when a Piper Super Cub came buzzing in over the river skimming the water with its wheels.

Edwin Stoltenberg, 26, was at the controls.

"At first I saw the plane, it was kind of like it was kind of cool just watching him fly around and then came closer and closer to the ground and then eventually he flipped his plane -- it was really scary," Kern said.

Stoltenberg flipped the plane in the middle of the river.

Kern checked on the pilot and discovered Stoltenberg was OK. Stoltenberg told Kern not to call the police, because he didn't have a license to fly -- and he also has four convictions for drunken driving.

"In this particular case, the likely result would be a fine, action against him, a civil penalty," said Howard Martin, FAA regional counsel. "The greater number of violations, the more severe they are, the higher the penalty, of course."

Videos of planes skimming across the water can be found on YouTube, but it's usually a skill reserved for the best of pilots.

"He was doing something that really is relegated to the most experienced Bush pilots in Alaska, where they actually use a hydroplane technique to get into short sand bars and things like this," Martin said. "So it's not something we sanction or suggest but it's certainly not something a student pilot or someone who's an inexperienced, non-certificated pilot should be doing to begin with."

Stoltenberg crashed near two kids fishing in the river and about 40 yards from Kern.

"He was getting really close to the water. He started coming toward our way and there were other little kids," Kern said. "There was a father and two kids fishing on the other side of the river where we were. They could have been hurt."

The pilot is not able to walk away in many cases like this, but Stoltenberg lived and will now face the consequences.

Contact Jason Moore at jmoore@ktuu.com