Five killed in Alaska mid-air collision

Five people died in a mid-air collision between two small commercial planes

The planes involved were a Piper (left) and a Cessna (right)
The planes involved were a Piper (left) and a Cessna (right)

Two small commercial planes collided mid-air in the US state of Alaska, killing all five people aboard both aircrafts.

The crash occurred around 11:00am local time (8:00pm CET) about96 km north of the city of Bethel, Alaska National Guard spokeswoman Candis Olmstead said in a statement.

The victims included three people on a Cessna from Hageland Aviation, a local airline, and two on a Piper operated by Renfro's Alaskan Adventures, a tourism company, according to Alaska's national guard.

Alaska State Troopers said in a statement that rescue workers searching the crash site found no survivors aboard either aircraft, and said an investigation was continuing.

Olmstead said the crash occurred about 6 miles northwest of Russian Mission, a remote community in the southwest of the state along the Yukon River.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, authorities said.