6 dead in float plane crash in Southeast Alaska

UPDATE 5/15/2019: Two people missing after a midair collision of seaplanes in Southeast Alaska were found dead Tuesday, raising the death toll to six, the Coast Guard said.

The two planes were carrying 14 cruise ship passengers and two pilots.

One of the dead was identified by friends as Randy Sullivan, owner of Mountain Air Service in Ketchikan, Alaska.

The Alaska State Troopers said the other victims were:

Simon Bodie, 56, New South Wales, Australia.

Cassandra Webb, 62, St. Louis, Missouri.

Ryan Wilk, 39, Utah.

Elsa Wilk, 37, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

Louis Botha, 46, San Diego, California.

Four other people, all in their 60s, were in satisfactory condition at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center.

"We're an aircraft community here in Ketchikan ... and this hits everybody in Ketchikan hard," said Jerry Kiffer, with the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Service.

The collision happened Monday afternoon over George Inlet, just south of Ketchikan on a main route for flightseeing tours to Misty Fjords National Monument.

The passengers were all from the Royal Princess cruise ship, which docked in Ketchikan on Monday.

Sullivan and four other people were on a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver. All were killed, authorities said.

The other 11 were on a de Havilland Otter operated by Ketchikan-based Taquan Air. One person on that aircraft died.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Princess Cruises has a hotline for people to check in on family members who may have been on the planes: 800.693.7222.

Last year, 11 people on a Taquan Air flight survived a crash on a mountainside on Prince of Wales Island west of Ketchikan.

In 2015, eight cruise ship passengers and a pilot died when a Promech Air floatplane crashed south of Ketchikan while returning from Misty Fjords National Monument. Taquan later bought Promech.

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Original story:

At least four people were killed Monday when two seaplanes carrying cruise ship passengers collided in midair near Ketchikan, Alaska. Two more people were still missing early Tuesday.

Coast Guard officials said it's still not clear what caused the collision.

A spokesperson for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle said by email that four people arrived Monday night for medical care. Three were in satisfactory condition and the fourth was in intensive care. Injuries included fractured ribs, pelvis, and spine.

Those with injuries:

• A 67-year-old male, who is in intensive care.
• A 63-year-old female in satisfactory condition.
• A 61-year-old female in satisfactory condition.
• A 61-year-old male in satisfactory condition. The 61-year-old male and 61-year-old female are married.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios said multiple ships and small boat crews were searching for the two missing people.

"We also have a helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka and we flew in a C-130 from Kodiak yesterday that was carrying pilots that was going to swap with the crews that were searching all day yesterday," Rios said, "We've definitely been throwing a lot of people at this."

The Coast Guard is also getting assistance from the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad.

"We're an aircraft community here in Ketchikan... and this hits everybody in Ketchikan hard," said Jerry Kiffer, Incident Commander for KVRS.

Kiffer said volunteers are searching through wreckage and along the shore for the two survivors.

"We have divers currently and we have search dog on scene now getting ready to search that debris field, and of course our ground teams are there," Kiffer said.

In a statement, Princess Cruises said all the passengers on the two planes were from its Royal Princess cruise ship, which was on a port call in Ketchikan.

Ten people and a pilot were aboard the single engine float plane operated by Taquan Air, based in Ketchikan. Princess Cruises said one person was killed.

Four people and a pilot were on a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver operated by an "independent tour" company. Princess Cruises said the pilot and two others were killed. Two other passengers were missing Tuesday morning.

The collision happened above George Inlet on a popular route for flight-seeing tours between Ketchikan and the Misty Fjords National Monument.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Princess Cruises has a hotline for people to check in on family members who may have been on the planes: 800.693.7222.