Date:	Thursday 15 August 1935
Time:	18:00
Type:	Lockheed Orion-Explorer
Owner/operator:	private - Wiley Post
Registration:	NR12283
MSN:	195
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Walakpa Lagoon, near Barrow, AK -   United States of America
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:	Harding Lake, Fairbanks, Alaska
Destination airport:	Village of Barrow, Alaska
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Dense fog at Barrow, AK was reported earlier in the day by the Signal Corps. Leaving Harding Lake, Fairbanks, at ~1:30 pm, Post later spotted a break in the fog, and made a precautionary landing at Walakpa lagoon where the weather was clearing some 11 miles from Barrow. Wx bureau reports for 6 pm showed 200'-1000' ceilings around Barrow with broken areas of "clearing" over the lagoon. After getting directions to Barrow from Clair Okpeaha, Wiley taxied out appx 1500', took off toward the ocean with a 13 mph partial headwind, banked right within 200-300 feet of the Arctic ocean. At 50 feet, the almost 49' wingspan, in a 45 degree bank would have been a mere 30' above the water. At this height, the engine sputtered, backfired, and quit, leaving no time for recovery. Almost immediately, the right wingtip struck the water, ripping off that wing, along with the nose of the right float. The violence of this contact flipped the plane, driving the nose into 2 feet of water and mud. Wiley Post and Will Rogers received massive injuries, and according to Dr. Henry Greist, resident missionary doctor, were killed instantly. Eye-witnesses, Eskimo Okpeaha and his family were camped on the North beach, a sandy, rocky sand spit which separates the lagoon from the ocean. He ran for 2 hours to Barrow to report the accident. Charlie Brower sent his son David and a crew of Eskimos in a motor launch, along with Sgt Stanley Morgan, Frank Daugherty, and crew in a separate motorboat to the lagoon where they recovered the bodies. Two on-site visits to the lagoon, one on Aug 15, 2011 … and months of researching original documents, made it possible to put together the fragments of eye-witness accounts.

Extensive research using unpublished MSS of Dr. Henry Greist, missionary doctor who repaired the bodies for transport to the States ... Report by Sgt Stanley Morgan, local Army operator of US Signal Corps ... article by resident schoolteacher, Frank Daugherty who was part of the recovery team with Morgan and David Brower ... Diary of Charles Brower, local Commissioner ... US Air Commerce Memos by Director Eugene Vidal, J. Carroll Cone, and Inspector Murray Hall ... and eye-witness testimony of Okpeaha to Greist, Morgan, Brower, and Daugherty... etc.
https://vervetimes.com/on-this-day-in-history-august-15-1935-entertainer-will-rogers-aviator-wiley-post-killed-in-plane-crash/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
28-Mar-2010 00:45	penguin832	Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Damage]
17-Mar-2011 16:12	Calvin Pitts	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
22-Aug-2011 08:19	Calvin Pitts	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
13-Apr-2012 00:49	Calvin Pitts	Updated [Time, Narrative]
02-Sep-2013 18:00	Anon.	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
02-Sep-2013 18:01	Anon.	Updated [Source, Narrative]
28-Aug-2014 16:45	Anon.	Updated [Time, Narrative]
19-Jul-2021 09:05	Cobar	Updated [Photo]
01-Dec-2021 14:47	Cobar	Updated [Time, Nature]
15-Aug-2022 06:40	gerard57	Updated [Source]