John Andrew Russell, BHS 1967

John Russell grew up and lived in Ethiopia and Kenya, except for his years at BHS. His parents were Presbyterian missionaries. During the time at BHS his parents were on furlough from Africa, and his dad was an associate minister at Glendale Presbyterian Church. After that they returned to Kenya for many more years until retirement, which included when John died in 1982.

A close friend and fellow pilot found the wreckage after the crash, and contacted John's parents in Kenya. They traveled from Kenya to Alaska and were able to see his body after they arrived, which was possible due to the circumstances of the crash. John was cremated in Alaska and then his parents took his cremains back to Kenya and scattered them over Mt. Kenya.
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Daily Sitka Sentinel, Sitka, Alaska, Wednesday, April 14, 1982

IDENTIFIED - FAIRBANKS - The Alaska State Troopers identified Tuesday the three people killed in a helicopter crash about 19 miles northeast of Tanana. Dead are pilot John Russell, 32, of Fairbanks, and Tom Ellis, 31, and Gary MacKenzie, 28, both of Anchorage. Cause of the crash late Sunday of the Hughes HU-500 owned by Tundra Copters of Fairbanks has not been determined.
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Daily News Miner, Fairbanks, Alaska, Wednesday, April 14, 1982

CAUSE OF COPTER MISHAP UNKNOWN

A Tundra Copters pilot at the controls of a helicopter that slammed into a mountain northeast of Tanana Sunday did not radio for help before the crash, the general manager for the Fairbanks air taxi service said this morning. "Right now, it's unknown," Craig Fielding said of the accident's cause.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash that killed pilot John A. Russell,32, of Fairbanks; Thomas A. Ellis, 32, of Girdwood, and Gary McKenzie, 28, of Anchorage.

Jon Osgood, who heads the Alaskan NTSB office, said this morning that he had yet talked with investigator Dick Stella and that cause of the accident is unknown. Stella and a technical representative for Hughes Aircraft traveled Tuesday to the accident site, 19 miles northeast of Tanana. The victims' bodies were recovered Tuesday by a State Trooper and Tundra Copters employees.

Ellis and McKenzie were Anaconda Copper Company employees. They left Fairbanks Sunday morning for a one-day trip to the Ray Mountains to set up a prospecting camp, an Arco spokesman said. The Ray Mountains are located 50 miles northeast of Tanana.

Susan Andrews said that Ellis, formerly a paramedic with the Anchorage Fire Department, was employed as a safety consultant; and McKenzie was a seasonal employee who had been hired as camp manager for the prospecting camp. The pair were expected to return to Fairbanks Sunday night but when the helicopter had not returned by 7:30 p.m., it was reported missing. Fielding said.

Fielding who is also a pilot, located the wreckage about 3 p.m. Monday after landing at the Anaconda camp. Overcast skies and poor weather hampered earlier search efforts, he said. Fielding said he followed a flight line from the camp toward Fairbanks. He spotted the helicopter above timberline on a mountain about an hour later. It was destroyed and apparently lost its rotor blades on impact, he said.

Fielding also said that Russell had apparently left McKenzie and Ellis at the camp while he shuttled explosives from Tanana to the mining camp, before returning to get them and bring them back to Fairbanks. Fielding said Russell was an experienced pilot and had never had an accident. He had been flying with Tundra Copters since 1977 and had logged more than 4,000 hours flight time, Fielding said.
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Daily News Miner, Fairbanks, Alaska, Monday, April 19, 1982

PROBE FINDS COPTER FREE FROM PROBLEMS

A Preliminary investigation into the cause of a helicopter crash northeast of Tanana that killed all three men on board has not revealed any mechanical problems with the helicopter, a National Transportation Safety Board field investigator said Friday. But the investigation is continuing and final results may not be known for months, Marc Stella said.

He said that Russell, who piloted the copter, had last contacted the Tanana Flight Service Station about 4:30 p.m. April 11 to extend his flight plan. Russell did not indicate any trouble with the helicopter, Stella said. The weather at the time of the accident was satisfactory for visual flight although there may have been scattered marginal areas, he added. Stella traveled to the accident site twice last week along with three Federal Aviation Administration coordinators and employees of Tundra Copters, the owners of the demolished helicopter. 

It crashed April 11 on a snowfield side of a mountain at about the 2,500-foot level. The wreckage was discovered Monday, April 12, by a pilot for Tundra Copters, a Fairbanks-based air taxi service. Stella said an on-scene investigation showed that the helicopter appeared to strike the side of the mountain at a high speed, killing the three men on board.