An Alaska sightseeing plane carrying five passengers and the pilot crashed into a tree in weather conditions that other pilots described as overcast with low clouds on Aug. 5 in southeast Alaska, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
“The clouds were as low as 600-800 ft overcast above ground level in some of the valleys, including the valley of the accident location,” the NTSB report stated.
The plane was returning to Ketchikan from Misty Fjords National Monument at around 10:48 a.m. and crashed in a heavily wooded area and mountainous terrain 18 miles northwest of Ketchikan.
Officials said the fuselage was crushed. The planes’ emergency beacon was activated at about 11:20 a.m., according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The five passengers on the sightseeing plane were on an excursion off the Holland America Line cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam.
The cruise line confirmed the excursion the passengers were on was not sold by Holland America Line.
Alaska State Troopers identified the passengers as Mark Henderson, 69, and Jacquelyn Komplin, 60, both of Napa, California; Andrea McArthur, 55, and Rachel McArthur, 20, both of Woodstock, Georgia; and Janet Kroll, 77, of Mount Prospect, Illinois.
The pilot was identified as Rolf Lanzendorfer, 64, of Cle Elum.
All of the victims’ bodies were recovered from the crash site.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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