Obituary - Chad Wayne Beer

Friday, August 3, 2001
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Juneau resident Chad Wayne Beer, 26, died July 30, 2001, near Haines.

He was born Aug. 9, 1974, in Grand Rapids, Minn., to Cheryl and Bruce Mallum. He graduated from Greenway High School in 1993.

Since the age of 3, Beer attended the Oshkosh Air Show and always knew he would one day be a pilot, his family wrote. Chad received his pilot's license at age 18 and started his flying career with Timberline in Minnesota. Later, he moved to Alaska where he continued being a pilot for LAB Flying Service.

In his spare time, Beer enjoyed hunting, fishing, learning to play the guitar, preparing traditional native foods, being out on the water and watching the sun set behind the mountains in Kake.

He will always be loved by his family and friends and will be greatly missed, wrote his family.

He was preceded in death by his grandmothers Hazel Mallum and Annie Richardson.

He is survived by his parents Bruce and Cheryl Mallum; brother Jake Mallum and fiancee Amber Ahonen; sister Lisa Storlie and brother-in-law Gene Storlie and their daughter Miya Storlie; grandparents Florence and Gordon Beer, Maurece Mallum and Jan Hawkinsen all of Minnesota.

He also is survived by his fiancee Melissa Ward, son Angelo and an unborn child; parents-in-law Gary and Patti Handy; brother-in-law Bruce Ward and fiancee Sarah Orazio all of Kake.

Pallbearers are Andrew Abraham, Scott Larcher, Bob Neal, Chuck Thompson, Ty Peterson, Robert Grant, Megan Thomas, William Boggess, Charlie Dignan, Matthew Andersen, Richard Milota, David Barneley, Jason Hart and John Mellor.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m., Aug. 3 at the Church of God at 8479 Thunder Mountain Rd. in Juneau. Another service will be held in Bovey, Minn., next week.

Friday, August 3, 2001
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Pilot in air crash loved flying
Bodies recovered from Glacier crash site
By Ann Chandonnet

Chad Beer, the pilot who died in Monday afternoon's crash on Davidson Glacier south of Haines, dreamed of flying from age 3.

"His life-long ambition was to be a pilot," said his step-father, Bruce Mallum of Bovey, Minn. "When he was 3 years old, his father and grandpa had an airplane. Every year he used to go to the big air show in Oshkosh, Wis. His first cross-country flight was to Oshkosh."

Beer, 26, earned his pilot's license at 18 and his instrument and commercial ratings two years later, Mallum said from his hotel room this morning. Mallum and his wife, Cheryl, arrived in Juneau on Wednesday.

"He loved flying in Alaska. He said it was so beautiful, and he wanted us to see it. It's not the way I wanted to see it, but it is beautiful and the people are phenomenal as far as caring," Mallum said.

Chad and his fiancee, Melissa Ward, were expecting a child in January.

"He loved flying and he loved his plane and he loved his son, Angelo," who is 6, Ward said. "He was a very kind, loving soul. We met a year ago (during Beer's first seasonal tour with LAB Flying Service), and it was love at first sight. We were going to get married."

Beer was piloting a single-engine flightseeing plane over the east side of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve when it crashed on Davidson Glacier.

Four German nationals and their Canadian tour guide also died in the crash. The bodies were recovered Thursday by an Army National Guard helicopter. Recovery efforts had been stalled Tuesday by bad weather and Wednesday when a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter broke down while at the crash site.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. The wreckage of the Cherokee Six may be collected and taken to Haines or Juneau so that it can be scrutinized closely, said Clint Johnson, NTSB investigator. The body of Beer will undergo autopsy in Anchorage.

Others killed in the crash are tour guide Marianne Cederberg, 55, of Toronto; Helmut Auer of Baden-Wurtemberg; Martin Federhofer of Hamburg; and Uwe Kahlbohm, 59, and his wife Siegrid, 65, of Bremerhaven, Germany.

A memorial service for Beer will be held at 7 p.m. today at the Church of God - Glacier Valley, 8497 Thunder Mountain Road. Beer's friends and colleagues are invited.

Tuesday, August 14, 2001
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE
Pilot died of blunt force injuries

JUNEAU Pilot Chad Beer died of "multiple blunt force injuries" when his plane crashed, the acting medical examiner said Monday. Beer was an LAB Flying Service pilot who piloted the plane that went down on Davidson Glacier on July 30, killing five passengers and himself.

Most of Beer's injuries were to the head, said Dr. Franc Fallico, deputy medical examiner, from his Anchorage office. Fallico said he cannot release toxicology test results.

Beer, 26, apparently crashed the single-engine flightseeing plane into a rock pillar near the crest of the glacier south of Haines. A Canadian guide and five German tourists were killed. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the incident.