By BECKY BOHRER
and MARK THEISSEN
The Associated Press
JUNEAU (AP) — Poor weather conditions were hindering efforts to recover the bodies of six people who were killed when a sightseeing plane crashed in Southeast Alaska, Alaska State Troopers said this afternoon.
The plane crashed Thursday as the pilot was returning five passengers to Ketchikan from Misty Fjords National Monument, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The plane’s emergency beacon was activated about 11:20 a.m. when it crashed near the monument, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
A helicopter company reported seeing wreckage on a ridgeline in the search area, and a Coast Guard air station Sitka helicopter crew found the wreckage around 2:40 p.m. Two rescue swimmers were lowered to the site, and found no survivors, the Coast Guard said.
The victims have not been identified, and troopers were working with the Coast Guard, U.S. Forest Service and volunteers from the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad to coordinate recovery efforts.
“Poor weather conditions and deteriorating visibility in the Ketchikan and Misty Fjords area have prevented the Alaska State Troopers and volunteers from the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad from conducting any recovery efforts this morning,” troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel said in an email today to The Associated Press.
Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad personnel land and disembark from a Hughes 369D helicopter Thursday at Temsco Helicopters Inc in Ketchikan. (Dustin Safranek/Ketchikan Daily News via AP)
Victims won’t be named until they have been identified following recovery efforts, he said.
All five passengers were on an excursion off the Holland America Line cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam. The company was making counseling services available to guests and crew, it said in a statement.
The plane involved Thursday, a de Havilland Beaver, was owned by Southeast Aviation LLC.
“Our hearts are shattered at the loss of six people today. We are thinking of and grieving with the families of the five passengers and our dear friend and pilot aboard the aircraft,” the company said in a Thursday evening statement. “We are cooperating with the first responders and agencies involved.”
Ketchikan is a popular stop for cruise ships visiting Alaska, and cruise ship passengers can take various sightseeing excursions while in port.
Popular among them are small plane flights to Misty Fjords National Monument, where visitors can see glacier valleys, snow-capped peaks and lakes in the wilderness area.
In 2019, two sightseeing planes collided in midair, killing six of the 16 people on board the two planes.
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a crew to investigate the crash. The team was expected to arrive in Alaska later today.
The FAA also is investigating.
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Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
