Two bodies have been found in the wreckage of a small single-engine plane that crashed Sunday near Eaglecrest Ski Area in Juneau. A debris field was found Sunday at the base of a 50-foot cliff after searchers traced an emergency locater transmitter signal. An alpine mountaineering team from Juneau Mountain Rescue returned to the site today, at about the 31-hundred foot level of Mount Ben Stewart, outside the ski area boundary. Alaska State Troopers coordinated the ground search, which included representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Board. Doug Wesson of JMR is the search team incident commander.
Wesson says positive identification of the victims has not been made. The plane was flying early yesterday morning from Hoonah to Juneau. The pilot had contacted Juneau flight service about ten miles from the Juneau airport, but failed to make the last scheduled check-in. The plane was reported missing to the U.S. Coast Guard at 6:43 a.m.
According to the FAA Registry, the plane is a Cessna 182, registered to Charles Woodrow Luck, Junior, of Anchorage.
Rosemarie Alexander is a reporter at KTOO in Juneau.
