Investigation Begins in Deadly Alaska Mid-Air Crash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two sightseeing planes that crashed in Alaska collided at about the 3,300-foot (1,006-meter) level, the National Transportation Safety Board announced shortly after an elite team arrived Tuesday from Washington, D.C., to investigate the crash. The two planes collided in mid-air Monday, killing six people, the Coast Guard said. The larger plane, a de Havilland Otter DHC-3 with 10 passengers and the pilot, had descended from 3,800 feet (1158 meters) feet and collided with a smaller de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, carrying four passengers from the same cruise ship, the Royal Princess, and the pilot. The federal investigation into the cause of the crash could take months, but a preliminary report is expected to be released within two weeks, said Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the NTSB. Names have not been released for those killed or injured. However, Princess Cruises said all were Americans except for two passengers who had been missing and were from Canada and Australia. Coast Guard Lt. Brian Dykens said Tuesday evening that his agency and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad found two bodies near the crash site of the smaller plane involved in the collision, a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver. Two U.S. Coast Guard 45-foot response boats drift through George Inlet as part of a search effort on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, near Ketchikan, Alaska, at the site of a collision between two float planes. Dive teams plunged into the icy cold waters of the southe...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Rescue & Vehicle Extrication News Operations Source Type: news