Poor weather conditions on Friday hampered recovery efforts at the site of a fatal plane crash near Ketchikan, officials say.
It’s too early to say what caused the de Havilland Beaver to crash in Misty Fjords National Monument Thursday, killing all six on board, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
NTSB’s Alaska Chief Clint Johnson said investigators plan to spend the weekend investigating the crash.
“We do understand that the wreckage came to rest in a very challenging, very steep, heavily wooded area,” he said. “So, you know, this is not going to be just a one-day operation here. But everything is going to be predicated on weather and safety.”
The plane was operated by Southeast Aviation and was carrying a pilot plus five cruise ship passengers from a Holland America ship, according to the cruise line. Holland America said the passengers had been on a floatplane flightseeing excursion.
The Coast Guard got a distress signal from the plane around 11:20 a.m. Thursday. And, a rescue team reached the site about three hours later, reporting no survivors.
The names of the deceased have not been released. The Alaska State Troopers and Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad will be leading efforts to recover the bodies.
The investigation is slated to begin Saturday morning, Johnson said, but that is dependent on weather conditions.
“What we’re going to do is to document the active site to the best of our ability, the best we possibly can given the circumstances, before the wreckage recovery portion takes place,” he said.
Johnson says the NTSB will try to determine a probable cause of the crash.
Before Thursday’s crash, at least 15 people had been killed in flightseeing crashes in the area since 2015.
