Jim Tweto, known for his starring role in Discovery’s Flying Wild Alaska, died in a small plane crash Friday, Alaska State Troopers said in a statement. He was 68.
According to the trooper’s report, Tweto and passenger Shane Reynolds, a hunting and fishing guide from Orofino, Idaho, crashed about 35 miles northeast of the coastal village of Shaktoolik.
“The Cessna 180 aircraft was witnessed taking off but not climbing and then crashing,” the statement read. State troopers were initially notified of an SOS activation at 11:48 a.m. and then reports of a plane crash.
Troopers who responded from Nome recovered the two bodies, according to the report. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the crash.
Tweto and his family-run airline, Era Alaska, were the center of the Discovery Channel series that ran for three seasons from 2011-2012. The show followed the family as they battled Alaska’s weather and terrain to transport necessities to remote areas.
According to the Associated Press, Tweto was born in Kansas and raised in Minnesota before coming to Alaska to play hockey at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He later settled down in Unalakleet, which is where he met his wife Ferno. The couple had three daughters who were also featured on the Discovery show.
Following the news of the crash, his daughter Ariel took to Instagram to share a sweet message remembering her dad. “I didn’t think anything could hurt this bad. … And I’d take any other type of pain if he could just land today,” she wrote. “My dad and a wonderful hunting guide and friend of our family passed away this afternoon in his 180. He died doing what he truly loved and is now with Uncle Ron up there soaring.”
