On Saturday, March 11, 1967, a single-engine Cessna set off from Portland bound for San Francisco

on what was supposed to be a relatively short and routine flight.

However, several hours into their flight, they encountered a freak storm that would cause the plane to crash on a literal mountainside.

Miraculously, all of the occupants would survive the initial crash, but what they would go on to endure in the next few weeks would be one of the most prolonged and grueling ordeals

in the history of the region.

This was so much so that it would forever change the course of aviation.

This is their horrifying story, and as always, viewer discretion is advised.

Alvin Ian was the proud owner of a Cessna 195.

This is an older but actually quite elegant looking four-seater model compared to today's more boxy Cessnas, but for

Alvin the plane's real value wasn't in its looks. It was what was inside it and what it allowed

him to do. Alvin had a blended family with his wife, Phyllis, who brought her daughter

Carla into the fold alongside Alvin's adult sons from a previous marriage. One of those sons,

32-year-old Alvin Jr., was scheduled for a layover in San Francisco, making it the

perfect excuse for Alvin and his family to fly down and see him, because after all, what's the

point of owning a plane if you don't use it to spend time with family? Now, by 59, Alvin had already

lived a full life. He started out as a lumberjack, mastering survival and hiking in the wilderness

before becoming the owner of the Clifford Hotel in Portland.

That business now supported his family, giving him the freedom to enjoy time with them and

pursue his hobbies, one of which was flying.

Accountants say he was very particular about his plane, insisting that he did the cleaning

and much of the maintenance himself.

Joining Alvin on this trip was 44-year-old Phyllis, who was a nursing graduate

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