Five people dead and one person unaccounted for after two floatplanes carrying passengers from a cruise excursion collided mid-air in Alaska
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Five people are dead and 10 others are injured after two planes carrying cruise passengers taking part in shore excursions collided mid-air over Southeast Alaska.
Princess Cruises confirmed that the pilot of a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver and all four passengers were killed in the collision with a de Havilland Otter DHC-3 just after 1pm local time about eight nautical miles from the town of Ketchikan.
The two planes carried 14 passengers from a seven-day roundtrip cruise out of Vancouver, according to a statement Monday from Royal Princess Cruises. Both planes collided mid-air about eight nautical miles from Ketchikan, Alaska, at the southeastern end of the state at about 1 p.m. local time.
“We are incredibly distressed by this situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with those onboard the planes and their families,” the cruise company said. “Princess Cruises is extending its full support to traveling companions of the guests involved.”
It is understood the Otter floatplane was returning from a Misty Fjords tour while the Beaver floatplane was on an independent tour.
A passenger on the Royal Princess cruise ship said 14 people on the two floatplanes that crashed in mid-air Monday in Alaska were cruise passengers.
With one passenger still unaccounted for, the Coast Guard has dispatched helicopters and boats for search and rescue operations.
