The National Transportation Safety Board needed help from mountain rescue specialists to get to the site of Tuesday’s fatal plane crash near Thunder Mountain east of Petersburg.
The sightseeing plane was carrying six cruise ship tourists from the vessel “Seabird.”
The pilot and five survivors were lifted out Tuesday, but it took specialized work to retrieve the body of the man who was killed, Thomas Rising, 66, of New Mexico, from the wreckage of the DeHavilland Beaver on a difficult slope, and to get the investigator to the site, according to the NTSB’s Clint Johnson.
“I understand it’s in very steep terrain, 30-40 degrees, it’s very unstable. So, that’s one of the reasons why the Juneau Mountain Rescue group was brought in to be able to stabilize it, also assist in the body recovery and also help out both the Troopers and NTSB investigator in charge on scene.”
The NTSB hopes to have preliminary information compiled on the accident in five days.
Joe Viechnicki is a reporter at KFSK in Petersburg.
