Gavan Hill Trail, Harbor Mountain Trail and portions of Harbor Mountain Road, closed after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crashed on Harbor Mountain Monday, are now open, the U.S. Forest Service said today.
The upper reaches of Harbor Mountain Road and an area of land at the top of Harbor Mountain will remain closed while the Coast Guard investigates the cause of Monday’s crash, USFS Forest Supervisor Janelle Crocker said in an amended public order issued today.
The four Coast Guard crew members who were aboard the helicopter when it crashed sustained non-serious injuries, the Coast Guard said Monday after the four were taken by ambulance from the crash site to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center.
The Forest Service on Tuesday closed all of Harbor Mountain Road, all of Harbor Mountain Trail and Gavan Hill Trail, and thousands of surrounding acres as the Coast Guard started its investigation into the crash.
Today’s Forest Service order includes a map showing areas atop Harbor Mountain, shadowed in red, where people are "prohibited to go into or be in" while the area “is closed or restricted for the protection of sensitive property.”
It states that violation of the order is punishable as a class B misdemeanor by a fine of not more than $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
As an investigation into cause of the crash is underway, no timeline has been set for removal of the helicopter wreckage from Harbor Mountain, a Coast Guard spokesperson said Wednesday.
Once the site is cleared by investigators, the Coast Guard will execute a salvage plan for the helicopter, the spokesperson said.
