Sightseeing plane crashes, kills all nine on board in Alaska
Nine killed in a plane crash in East Alaska
Map showing location where the wreckage of a sightseeing plane was found
According to international media an excursion plane carrying sightseers from a Holland America Line cruise ship has crashed in south-east Alaska, with all nine on board killed including the pilot.
Reports said wreckage was located on a rocky cliff face about 800ft (240 metres) above a lake after the plane was reported missing on Thursday afternoon. Search and rescue crews were sent.
The crash occurred near Ella Lake, about 20 miles (30 km) north-east of the town of Ketchikan, the Seattle-based cruise company said in a statement according to the Guardian.
The newspaper adds that head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska office, has said that there are nine fatalities. However, rain and wind forced an end to recovery efforts on Thursday night in the rugged terrain and officials are expected to mount a recovery attempt again on Friday.
The eight passengers were guests from the Westerdam, a ship on a seven-day cruise that departed from Seattle on Saturday. Promech Air, an airline based in Ketchikan, operated the air excursion sold through Holland America Line, the cruise ship company said in a statement. The pilot was among the dead.
There has been no immediate indication of why the DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter turboprop crashed, but it was found on Thursday in the aforementioned location.
Reports say it is too soon to know circumstances of the crash, including whether the plane flew into the cliff.
The NTSB is reportedly assembling a high-level team to investigate the crash, including three members from Alaska and at least two people from Washington DC.
The Guardian reports that coast guard petty officer Lauren Steenson said the agency received a report around 2.15pm that the plane was overdue. Troopers said an emergency locator transmitter activated in the Misty Fjords National Monument area and a helicopter pilot spotted the downed aircraft above the lake, which is about 800 miles (1,300km) south-east of Anchorage.The airline explained that the crash had taken place at about 11.20am and that it was one of five Otter aircraft in its fleet.
