Wings of Alaska flight 202 from Juneau to Hoonah has crashed on land, according to a 3 p.m. Coast Guard broadcast. The plane is reported to have gone down somewhere between Point Howard and Point Couverden. (Image from Google maps)
Update 9:21 p.m.
Bartlett spokesman Jim Strader says two of the passengers are in stable condition. A passenger in critical condition and another in serious condition are being prepared to be evacuated. Strader couldn’t say to where they would be transferred. He also confirmed that Ernestine Hanlon is the passenger listed as being in critical condition.
Update 8:35 p.m.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirms the fifth person onboard the Wings of Alaska flight was found deceased.
“Rescue crews responding to the plane crash west of Juneau have located all five people who were on board the airplane. Unfortunately there were only four survivors,” says Coast Guard spokesman Kip Wadlow.
The four survivors have been flown to Juneau and transported to Bartlett Regional Hospital for medical treatment.
Wadlow says next of kin are being notified. He couldn’t release names of anyone on the flight.
Wings of Alaska flight 202 crashed into a mountain north of Point Howard on the mainland around 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. The flight from Juneau to Hoonah took off at 1:06 p.m. and was scheduled to land at 1:24 p.m.
Wadlow says representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board are traveling to Juneau to conduct an investigation.
Update at 8:10 p.m.
Rescue crews have located all five people who were onboard a small plane that crashed 18 miles west of Juneau, Friday.
Four of the people aboard the plane survived and were transported to Juneau by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, for treatment of their injuries. The fifth person was located by the search team who reported that they were deceased.
Update at 7:48 p.m.
The Coast Guard confirms a fourth survivor from the plane crash is being transported back to Juneau.
“One of the two remaining people had been found. They had suffered some significant injuries but they’ve been hoisted aboard out helicopter and they’re being flown back to Juneau for treatment,” says Coast Guard spokesman Kip Wadlow.
Wadlow doesn’t know the condition of the fifth person.
Update at 6:25 p.m.
The U.S. Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter crew has so far transported three survivors from the plane crash to Juneau.
“Ground crews are still searching to locate and assess the status of the other two from the airplane,” says Coast Guard spokesperson Grant DeVuyst.
He says the survivors are being initially brought to Bartlett Regional Hospital for medical care.
Update at 5:45 p.m.
The site of the crash was at 1,330 feet.
“That made rescuers hiking in from the beach impractical, so helicopter crews located a clearing between the beach and the site of the crash where they are able to conduct hoist operations. So they’re in the process of lowering rescuers and hoisting survivors from that location,” says Coast Guard spokesman Grant DeVuyst.
He still doesn’t have a confirmation on how many rescuers there are.
Update at 5:36 p.m.
Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen says there are confirmed survivors, but she doesn’t know the extent of injuries or if there are any fatalities.
“The Troopers have actually spoken by phone to survivors, so we do have survivors,” Ipsen says.
Hoonah mayor Ken Skaflestad says the plane crash is devastating.
“We rely on air travel so much being from an island out here that it concerns us whenever we hear of plane crashes anywhere. This is very close to home and the whole town is curious and anxious to know more,” Skaflestad says.
Skaflestad says he knows of only one passenger from Hoonah on the flight.
Update at 4:47 p.m.
The Wings of Alaska Cessna flying from Juneau to Hoonah went down just north of Pt. Howard with five people on board — four passengers and one crewmember.
Coast Guard spokesman Grant DeVuyst says a Coast Guard and two Temsco helicopters are transporting Juneau Mountain Rescue to the nearest beach.
“The airplane has been located on the side of a mountain where — because of terrain and a low ceiling right now — hoist capabilities weren’t an option. They are landing on the beach so that the Juneau Mountain rescue personnel can go to conduct the rescue and bring survivors back to the beach,” DeVuyst says.
DeVuyst says there is no confirmed report of how many survivors there are.
The flight from Juneau to Hoonah took off at 1:06 p.m. and was scheduled to land at 1:24 p.m.
Update at 4:35 p.m.
The U.S. Coast Guard says they are no longer in need of assistance for Wings of Alaska flight 202.
Update at 4:11 p.m.
Around 1:26 p.m., the Juneau Police Department says it received a 911 call from a person reporting that they had been involved in the plane crash. The name of the 911 caller matched the name of one of the people listed on the Wings of Alaska missing plane. The condition of all five passengers is unknown.
Wings of Alaska has established a number for friends and family of the passengers at 407-362-0632.
Lisa Phu is a reporter at KTOO in Juneau.
