Flying Wild Alaska

American TV series or program

Flying Wild Alaska is a documentary television series that aired on Discovery Channel in 2011 and 2012.

The show features the Tweto family from Unalakleet, Alaska who run the Alaska airline Era Alaska. They operate the hub operations from Unalakleet. The show also features other segments from their bases in Utqiagvik (Barrow), Deadhorse, and other places.^[1]

Cast

Tweto family

• Jim Tweto, the COO of the airline, was born in Wichita, Kansas, but his family moved to Silver Bay, Minnesota shortly after his birth. He then moved to Anchorage, Alaska at the age of 18 with a hockey scholarship at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Shortly after moving, he realized his true passion was aviation, and in 1980 moved to Unalakleet, Alaska, where he met his wife Ferno. He became the COO of Era when the Frontier Flying Service, Era Aviation, and Hageland Aviation merged in 2009, becoming the largest regional airline in Alaska.^{[2][self-published source?]} Jim Tweto was killed in a plane crash on June 16, 2023, at the age of 68.^[3][4]
• Ferno Tweto, the Unalakleet station manager and wife of COO Jim Tweto, was born in Anchorage and raised in Unalakleet. Ferno is also a pilot, earning her pilot certificate from a school in Everett, Washington in 1981. Ferno met Jim when he came to Unalakleet in 1980, and they married eight years later in 1988. They worked together side by side ever since and had three daughters, two of whom are showcased on the show.^{[5][self-published source?][6][self-published source?]}
• Ariel Tweto^{[7][self-published source?]} is part of the Unalakleet ground crew, and is Jim and Ferno's second child. Like her mother, she ran cross-country and has run every day since 2002.^{[8][self-published source?]} She was also a contestant on the ABC game show Wipeout in 2008 and 2009.^[9] The 2011–2012 season of Flying Wild Alaska depicted Ariel taking flight training to earn her pilot's license. Her instructor, featured in the show, is Chelsea Abingdon Welch.^{[10][self-published source?]} Ariel received her private pilot certificate on April 21, 2012.^{[citation needed]} Ariel became a frequent guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, even joining Ferguson for a time during his week of episodes in Scotland in 2012 and near the end of Ferguson's tenure in December 2014.^{[citation needed]} Tweto has a recurring voice role on the Fox animated sitcom The Great North, playing a teenage girl named Kima Evanoff.
• Ayla Tweto, like her sister Ariel, is part of the Unalakleet ground crew. Later^[when?] living in Anchorage, she has studied to be a paramedic. She visits the rest of her family in Unalakleet every weekend and has her private pilot's certificate.^{[11][self-published source?]}

Others

The show also features other various pilots from cities all around Alaska.

Pamyua has provided background music for Flying Wild Alaska.^{[citation needed]}

• Jared Cummings, pilot for Era based in Kotzebue.^{[12][self-published source?]} Specializing in off-airport landings, he also owns and operates his own company known as the Golden Eagle Outfitters.^{[13][self-published source?]}
• Sarah Fraher, pilot based in St Mary's.^{[14][self-published source?]}
• Luke Hickerson, lead pilot and check airman based in Utqiagvik (Barrow).^{[12][self-published source?]}
• Ben Pedersen, pilot based in Unalakleet.^{[12][self-published source?]}
• John Ponts, pilot based in Utqiagvik (Barrow).^{[12][self-published source?]} He is a former pro skateboarder from San Diego who caught a bug for flying after earning his pilot's license in an attempt to spot empty swimming pools to skate in from the air.^{[citation needed]}
• Erik Snuggerud, lead pilot based in Bethel.^{[12][self-published source?]}
• Doug Stewart, pilot based in Nome.^{[12][self-published source?]}
• Nick Stone, co-pilot based in Nome.^{[12][self-published source?]}
• Chelsea Abingdon Welch, flight instructor out of Unalakleet^{[citation needed]}

Episodes

Season 1 (2011)

Season 2 (2011)

Season 3 (2012)

Broadcast Airings

Repeats of the series air on the digital broadcast network Quest.

Death of Jim Tweto

On June 16, 2023 Jim Tweto was killed in a plane crash near Shaktoolik, along with passenger Shane Reynolds, a hunting and fishing guide.^[17] The cause of the crash is still under investigation, the NTSB preliminary report stated that the plane impacted a tree during takeoff, however no conclusion about the final cause has yet been published.^[18]

See also

• Ice Pilots NWT, a similar show based on a bush airline in the Northwest Territories of Canada
• Ice Airport Alaska, a similar show based around Ted Stevens Airport and the airlines that operate out of it
• Arctic Air, a dramatic fiction TV show similar in premise to this documentary TV show

References

1. "About the Show : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
2. "Jim Tweto : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. 2012-04-11. Archived from the original on 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
3. "Famed bush pilot Jim Tweto and Idaho guide die in Western Alaska plane crash". Anchorage Daily News. June 17, 2023. Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
4. "'Flying Wild Alaska' star pilot Jim Tweto dies in plane crash at 68". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
5. "Ferno Tweto : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. 2012-04-11. Archived from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
6. "ariel tweto (ariel) on Myspace". MySpace. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
7. "Ariel Tweto". Retrieved 24 November 2022.
8. "Ariel Tweto : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. 2012-04-11. Archived from the original on 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
9. "Ariel Tweto". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
10. "Best of Season Three". Discovery Go. Archived from the original on 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
11. "Ayla Tweto : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. 2012-04-11. Archived from the original on 2012-12-01. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
12. "Bios : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
13. "Jared Cummings : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
14. "Sarah Fraher : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
15. "Flying Wild Alaska Season 1 Episode Guide : Discovery Channel". Dsc.discovery.com. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
16. "Flying Wild Alaska Episodes – Flying Wild Alaska Full Episode Guides from Season 2 on Discovery". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
17. "MSN". MSN. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
18. "Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report". NTSB. 2023-06-23. Retrieved 2024-01-02.

External links

• Flying Wild Alaska at IMDb