Alaskan fishing village still lacks road as residents die awaiting medical aid

King Cove, a small native-majority fishing settlement in the Aleutian Islands, is isolated by a gravel airstrip that cannot operate on many days due to weather. When a fisherman lost a leg in a boating accident, the town’s only medical provider, Cathy Hoff, urged evacuation to Anchorage, but the nearest all-weather airport was 18 miles away in Cold Bay, inaccessible without a road. A local airline attempted a risky flight, which ended in a crash that killed all aboard, including Hoff and another fisherman.

That tragedy sparked a decades-long push for a gravel road linking King Cove to Cold Bay, yet the project remains stalled. To date, officials count 19 deaths tied to the lack of reliable transport for urgent medical needs or aviation accidents.