Rep. Kevin Meyer State Capitol, Room 110 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-4945 Toll Free: (866) 465-4945 Fax: (907) 465-3476

Rep. Carl Morgan State Capitol, Room 434 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-4527 Fax: (907) 465-2197

Sponsor Statement for CS HB 523
Madsen Airport in Unalaska

An Act naming the state airport at the City of Unalaska the Tom Madsen Airport.

This bill will rename the state airport in the City of Unalaska in honor of Charles Thomas Madsen, Sr., who was tragically killed in Juneau on April 10th, 2002, in a plane accident. The Unalaska City Council and surrounding communities fully support this bill to honor a pilot that had given so much to the people of the Aleutian chain.

Thomas Madsen was a bush aviator for nearly twenty years through out the Aleutians and is well known for willingly jeopardizing his own life in order to save the lives of others. He was instrumental in many medical emergencies and search and rescues. He knowingly flew in extremely hazardous weather in order to transport persons with medical crises. If he had not acted selflessly, lives most certainly would have been lost. In one particular incident, he flew in 100 miles per hour winds with heavy snow and sleet in order to save the life of a toddler who had ingested a fatal amount of iron pills.

Thomas Madsen epitomizes the term "bush pilot" in selflessly putting others' needs above his own to meet the needs of humanity. The residents of the Aleutian chain will fondly remember him, both as the owner of Aleutian Air, and for his heroic acts. In so commemorating him with the renaming of the City of Unalaska airport, his memory will live on for generations to come.

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Attachments:

• Bill History for HB 523
  
• Print Friendly Version
  Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 1 page(s) - 14K
  

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