Tragic-
6 people, including the plane’s pilot, are dead after floatplane crashes Thursday in southeast Alaska, US Coast Guard says–
The following written content by Morgan Hines
A sightseeing plane crashed Thursday in southeast Alaska, killing all six people on board, including the plane’s pilot, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The five passengers were Holland America Line cruise passengers, the cruise line said on Twitter.
“An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka located the wreckage at 2:37 p.m. and lowered two rescue swimmers who reported no survivors,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The Coast Guard along with Alaska Wildlife Troopers, Alaska State Troopers, U.S. Forest Service and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad responded to the area of the crash, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Public Safety, provided by public information officer Austin McDaniel. The Coast Guard discovered the crash site in “a steep mountainous area,” the statement continued.
The identities of those killed in the crash were not immediately released.
The floatplane, an aircraft that can be supported by floats on water, left from Misty Fjords National Monument and “crashed near Ketchikan, Alaska, around 11:19 a.m. local time today,” Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Donnell Evans told USA TODAY in a statement.
The plane left from Misty Fjords and was on its way to Ketchikan.
The five passengers on the flight were from the Holland America Line cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam, the company said in a statement. Holland America expressed its condolences on Twitter late Thursday.
“We can confirm that a float plane carrying five guests from Nieuw Amsterdam was involved in an accident in Ketchikan, and there are no survivors,” Holland America said. “It was an independent tour not sold by Holland America Line. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victims.” Read more from USA Today.
Here’s some interesting information about what are floatplanes and how they operate:
