HARRISBURG, Pa. - A man from Harrisburg dies in a Taquan Air Floatplane crash in Alaska. It's the second deadly crash involving that type of plane in the last week. The accident happened Monday afternoon, killing 51-year-old Ron Rash, when the plane he was flying went down in the Metlakatla Harbour. His friends are now trying to come to grips with his death.
"It's almost like you have a moment of disbelief," said Wyatt Kenno. "Like, not Ron, no way."
While Rash loved flying, Kenno and another friend, Tim Kocher, both knew him from the water. They would all kayak or canoe the Susquehanna.
"He put his heart and soul into everything that he did," said Kenno. "And he was just a great person to be around and call a friend."
Kenno and Kocher say Rash loved traveling and doing missionary work, but was also a thrill seeker, having done work skydiving and banner flying.
"He impacted a lot of people across the Harrisburg area," said Kenno. "And across the world really."
Kocher remember Rash telling him in February about a new opportunity that would take him to Alaska to fly planes.
"He loves getting in the plane and it was a new adventure for him."
His friends are planning to hold a memorial paddle Sunday, June 2nd in the Dauphin Narrows of the Susquehanna River.