Flying Wild Alaska

Flying Wild Alaska
Created by	Discovery Channel
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Production locations	Alaska, United States
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	Discovery Channel (2011-Present)
Release	January 14, 2011 (2011-01-14) – present
Related
Gold Rush Alaska

Flying Wild Alaska is a documentary television series that airs on Discovery Channel.

The show features the Tweto family from Unalakleet, Alaska who run the Alaska airline Era Alaska. They operate the hub operations from Unalakleet. The show also features other segments from their bases in Barrow, Deadhorse, and other places.

Cast

Tweto Family

• Jim Tweto, the COO of the airline, was born in Wichita, Kansas, but his family moved to Silver Bay, Minnesota shortly after his birth. He then moved to Anchorage, Alaska at the age of 18 with a hockey scholarship at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Shortly after moving, he realized his true passion was aviation, and in 1980 moved to Unalakleet, Alaska, where he met his wife Ferno Tweto. He became the COO of Era when the Frontier Flying Service, Era Aviation, and Hageland Aviation merged in 2009, becoming the largest regional airline in Alaska.
• Ferno Tweto, the Unalakleet station manager and wife of COO Jim Tweto, was born in Anchorage and raised in Unalakleet. Ferno is also a pilot, earning her pilot certificate from a school in Everett, Washington in 1981. Ferno met Jim when he came to Unalakleet in 1980, and they got married eight years later in 1988. They have worked together side by side ever since, and have two daughters.
• Ariel Tweto is part of the Unalakleet ground crew, and is Jim and Ferno's second child. Like her mother, she ran cross-country and has run every day since May 2002. She was also a contestant on the ABC game show Wipeout in 2008 and 2009.
• Ayla Tweto, like her sister, is part of the Unalakleet ground crew. Now living in Anchorage, she is studying to be a paramedic. She visits the rest of her family in Unalakleet every weekend, and has her private pilot's certificate.

Others

The show also features other various pilots from cities all around Alaska.

Episodes

Season 1 (2011)

Episode #	Episode title	Original airdate
1 (1)	"Meet the Twetos"	January 14, 2011
In the frigid Alaskan town of Unalakleet, the Twetos and their family-run airline Era Alaska Aviation battle the arctic elements to transport supplies and passengers to some of the most non-accessible spots in North America.
2 (2)	"Life or Death"	January 21, 2011
Pilot Luke Hickerson transports dangerous chemicals from Barrow to the remote village of Atqasuk. In Unalakleet, the cold and dark winter causes its first death and Jim must make arrangements to transport the casket.
3 (3)	"Blow it Up"	January 28, 2011
In a dangerous mission, pilot Doug Doherty flies along Russian airspace to transport volatile explosives to the island of St Lawrence. In Unk, pilot Ben slams into a large bird in the middle of his flight.
4 (4)	"Indian Summer"	February 4, 2011
Unseasonably warm weather sends Jim up to the Brooks Range to look for potential landing strips. Ferno and Ariel prepare an Eskimo feast for returning pilot John Ponts and the week ends with an icy plunge into the Unalakleet River.
5 (5)	"Tundra Taxis"	February 11, 2011
In Bethel, construction crews race to finish ERA's newest hangar before the unforgiving winter snows arrive. But when Jim flies in to inspect the progress, he is far from happy. In Unalakleet, fierce crosswinds blow John Ponts' tiny 207 all over the sky.
6 (6)	"Greenhorn Ben"	February 18, 2011
Pilot Yuri Ivanoff trains in Bethel for a potential promotion to fly the 208 Caravan. But danger strikes when heavy ice forms on the wings. In Unalakleet, weeks of rain force Jim to do a river landing and a greenhorn comes on board during some of the worst weather to fly.
7 (7)	"Deep Freeze"	February 25, 2011
Era Alaska makes a special canine delivery to four-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey in Fairbanks. After the first snow in Unalakleet, Jim and Ferno cope with an influx of schoolteachers on their busiest day of the year.
8 (8)	"Bush Brawl"	March 4, 2011
A dangerous frozen river landing leaves Jim and Ferno skating on thin ice, while Ariel's flying lessons end in disaster. The biggest snowstorm of the season hits, shutting down all of Western Alaska and leaving several Era pilots up in the air.
9 (9)	"Trick or Tweto"	March 11, 2011
Halloween in Alaska brings vicious crosswinds that wreak havoc on Era's small planes. Ariel hopes to learn the family business in Unk, but a power blackout tests her abilities when she takes over as station manager.
10 (10)	"Goodbye Sun"	March 18, 2011
The approaching winter darkness fuels a mass exodus from Unalakleet. In Barrow, a bootlegger attempts to smuggle in illegal liquor and Luke races to complete a daring rescue before the sun sets for two months straight.

Season 2

There will be a season two of Flying Wild Alaska. Clark Bunting, CEO of Discovery Communications was quoted in an article in Entertainment Weekly: that "viewers have simply fallen in love with the quirky Tweto family and their intrepid team of pilots, and we’re excited to see how much more they push the limits next season.”

See also

• Ice Pilots NWT
• Ice Road Truckers