Alert – Fear and fury in idyllic mountain town as wealthy Top Gun wannabes clash with locals as death toll climbs

A tiny Midwestern village has become the unlikely locus for a civil war involving military-grade aircraft and a mounting death toll. 

Nestled between the banks of Palisades Reservoir in Idaho and the snow-capped mountains of the Wyoming Range, the idyllic town of Alpine is home to little more than 1,000 people. 

But the sweeping greenery of the surrounding Grand Teton National Park belies a fervent fight between locals and wealthy airplane enthusiasts who are disturbing the tranquility – while allegedly putting lives at risk. 

Alpine is home to a 5,850-foot airstrip straddling the Wyoming-Idaho border, which has been drawing increasing numbers of wealthy Top Gun wannabes to the area. 

Locals have said the air traffic growth has become out of control, bringing constant noise to the town as well as deadly accidents when people crash.  

A tiny Midwestern village has become the unlikely locus for a civil war involving military-grade aircraft and a mounting death toll 

Nestled between the banks of Palisades Reservoir in Idaho and the snow-capped mountains of the Wyoming Range, the idyllic town of Alpine is home to little more than 1,000 people

Longtime Alpine resident Jay Goodrich described the questionable flying practices and jet fly-bys as ‘a circus’ in the sky above his otherwise idyllic hometown. 

‘As a private pilot myself, watching the stuff they are doing at the airpark, I can’t believe the FAA is not down there,’ he told Jackson Hole News and Guide.

‘It’s extreme wealth versus the common man,’ he added. ‘In rural Wyoming, do we really need fighter jets taking off so they can practice? As a pilot, you want to stay sharp. 

‘When I was flying, I was flying every day of the week, but I wasn’t piloting a fighter jet. Do we need fighter jets in Alpine, Wyoming, saying they don’t have to report to anyone?’ 

Goodrich said the fly-in residential park was designed to host single-engine planes flown by veteran pilots – but it’s now riddled with military-grade aircrafts and private jets. 

‘We have been here for three years, and we were very aware of the airstrip,’ Matt Grant, who lives in Alpine Meadows next to the Airpark, told the News and Guide. 

‘Little did I know that during our first Fourth of July, the house would start shaking. It sounded like a ‘Top Gun’ film. 

‘We have rules in our neighborhood that come from the Forest Service that say we are not allowed to have fences because of the wildlife. 

‘I’m sure the Forest Service didn’t intend to have fighter jets flying over. It sounds like an episode of MASH down there.’

Pictured: the moment a plane plummeted in Alpine on July 4 this year, killing pilot Edan Shalev

Edan Shalev pictured with his GB1 GameBird aircraft. Shalev died on July 4th after his plane nosedived into shallow waters in the Palisades Reservoir

Alpine residents say recent crashes, such as a deadly collision on July 4 this year, are the result of unfettered air traffic by hobbyists

Alpine residents say recent crashes, such as a deadly collision on July 4 this year, are the result of unfettered air traffic by hobbyists. 

A Game Composites GB1 Gamebird plane, described as a ‘racing car for the sky’, nosedived into the Palisades Reservoir on Independence Day, killing pilot Edan Shalev. 

Kevin Nettleton, who witnessed the horror crash and rushed toward the downed plane in his boat seeking survivors, said the scene was like something from ‘Mad Max’. 

But he said recovery efforts were hindered by a Black Hawk helicopter which landed nearby to aid them – but ended up whirring up strong winds which sent water spraying in all directions. 

‘I know he was trying to help, but it was hell. I’m still shaken up over it,’ Nettleton told Jackson Hole News and Guide. ‘He came out of nowhere.’

Several other crashes have been documented in the vicinity, including a horrific incident which killed parents David and Jessica Anderson, leaving their children orphaned. 

The couple were killed in the Cessna crash which also took the lives of Thomas and Heidi Summers in March 2016, according to East Idaho News, which tracked several more similarly deadly incidents around the same time. 

Residents are also worried about constantly breathing in jet fuel, which has tainted the air with a permeating odor, and caused potential pollution to Palisades Reservoir.  

The airstrip can be used by the public, but the Alpine Airpark executive board decides who can fly in and out of the private development. 

Residents have written a letter of complaint to the airpark board, citing its own guidelines, and Alpine Mayor Eric Green.

Airpark board president Raj Narayanan said that accidents like the July 4 crash are not within the airpark’s jurisdiction.  

Pictured: The wreckage of a crash in Alpine, Wyoming in March 2016 

Parents David and Jessica Anderson were killed in a Cessna crash near Alpine, which also took the lives of Thomas and Heidi Summers in March 2016

Thomas “Brook” Summers, 39, and Heidi Summers, 36, whom along with Jerry “David” Anderson, 40, and Jessica Anderson, 38, died in the crash that occurred north of Alpine, Wyoming, near Palisades Reservoir on March 2016

Residents have written a letter of complaint to the airpark board, citing its own guidelines, and Alpine Mayor Eric Green (pictured)

‘One of the things we can do as an airpark is to be proactive and establish procedures, policies and guidelines for members that fly into the airpark or live at the airpark,’ Narayanan told the News and Guide. 

‘We do have very formalized, established procedures and guidelines for members of the airpark, and we ask that all members convey those to their guests to ensure that they’re aware of standard departure corridors, arrival corridors and performance limitation requirements that we’ve established to try to be neighborly and try to be courteous to all of our residents within the community at large.’

‘What I would say is, the airpark is definitely part of the Alpine ecosystem, but it’s not in the town of Alpine,’ Mayor Green told the News and Guide. 

‘As mayor and town council, we have very little jurisdiction over what happens at the airpark. 

‘Part of the problem is that there are a few people who don’t abide by the rules, and that’s what causes the consternation.’