Eight Cruise Ship Passengers Killed in Shore Excursion Plane Crash

By Steve Quinn

JUNEAU, June 25 (Reuters) – All 9 folks aboard an tour aircraft from a Holland America Line cruise ship that crashed in Alaska on Thursday died within the accident, police and the plane firm stated.

Eight passengers and the pilot had been killed when the aircraft went down throughout a tour of the Misty Fjords space of southeast Alaska on Thursday afternoon, flight operator Promech Air stated in an announcement.

“There is nothing I can say that can alleviate the pain and overwhelming sense of loss,” stated Marcus Sessoms, president of Promech Air.

None of these aboard the crashed single-engine plane was recognized, pending notification of their households, Promech added.

“It was a bad crash site,” volunteer rescue employee Chris John instructed the Alaska Dispatch News, including that the climate within the space on the time was windy and turbulent.

The small float aircraft crashed close to Ella Lake, about 20 miles (30 km) northeast of the city of Ketchikan, cruise operator Holland America Line stated.

Conditions on the close by Ketchikan International Airport had been overcast and wet across the time of the crash, the National Weather Service stated.

Ketchikan is a well-liked summertime cruise vacation spot about 230 miles (370 km) south of Juneau, the state capital.

A helicopter pilot noticed the downed aircraft in opposition to a granite rock face about 800 toes (240 m) above Ella Lake within the Misty Fjords, in response to an Alaska State Trooper report.

Due to dangerous climate, efforts to retrieve our bodies will start on Friday, a state trooper stated.

The explanation for the crash was not instantly recognized. The National Transportation Safety Board stated it was sending a group to analyze. The plane was a DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter, certainly one of 5 operated by Promech.

The tour flight was offered by means of Holland America Line, a unit of Carnival Corp.

The eight passengers had been on the cruise ship Westerdam, which left Seattle on Saturday for a seven-day spherical journey, the cruise line stated in an announcement.

Promech’s sightseeing flights across the Misty Fjords National Monument supply views of “towering granite cliffs, 1,000-foot waterfalls, lush and remote valleys and serene crystalline lakes,” the corporate says on its web site.

In July 2013, 4 folks on board an identical float aircraft owned by Promech had been injured after the craft suffered engine failure and crashed into bushes on close by Prince of Wales Island, the Alaska Dispatch News reported. (Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and Steve Quinn in Juneau; Additional reporting by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Eric Beech and Clarence Fernandez)