The bodies of two people are missing after the discovery of the collision between a seaplane in Alaska; 6 died in an accident

May 15, 2019, 4:12 UTC / Update May 15, 2019, 05:08 UTC

By Phil Helsel

The bodies of two people reported missing after the collision of two seaplanes on Monday over Alaska were found, bringing to six the number of confirmed deaths, authorities said.

Rescue teams have found the remains of two people missing after the collision between George Inlet, Ketchikan said in a statement Tuesday night.

Four deaths had already been confirmed in the accident, occurring Monday afternoon about eight nautical miles from Ketchikan, Alaska, to the southeastern tip of the state, guards said. ribs and other officials. The planes were conducting guided tours for cruise ship passengers.

Ten people were saved, said the Coast Guard. Before the discovery of both bodies, the coastguards had said and others were looking for two people.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew located the remains and led the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Brigade in the area, Coast Guard said Tuesday.

"This is not the result we were hoping for and we express our deepest condolences at this very difficult time," Captain Stephen White, Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Sector at Juneau, said in a statement.

A de Havilland DHC-3 Otter seaplane and a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver seaplane were involved in the crash, Coast Guard said.

There were a total of 16 people in the planes: ten passengers and a pilot on a Taquan Air plane and four passengers and a pilot on a Mountain Air Service plane, officials said.

The Ketchikan district said in a statement that of the 10 wounded, three had remained in a local hospital in fair condition and that three patients had been released Tuesday.

Four patients were taken to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center. This hospital said Tuesday that a person was in a critical care state in serious condition, but showed signs of improvement, and three patients were found to be satisfactory.

The two aircraft, a Otter owned and operated by Taquan Air and a Beaver owned and operated by Mountain Air Service, were both bound for Ketchikan and struck between 3,200 and 3,300 feet at approximately 12:20 pm. Monday, Jennifer Homendy, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Tuesday.

The plane pilot Taquan Air has survived, said Homendy.

State of Alaska soldiers identified the dead as follows: Randy Sullivan, a Ketchikan pilot, 46 years old; Simon Bodie, 56, from New South Wales, Australia; Cassandra Webb, 62, of St. Louis, Missouri; Ryan Wilk, 39, from Utah; Louis Botha, 46, of San Diego; and Elsa Wilk, 37, of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

The NTSB has launched a team to investigate, but Homendy said on Tuesday that information on the plane crash was preliminary.

There was no flight data recorder in the cockpit, neither aircraft, he said. Investigators will look at the terrain, weather and other factors, she said.

"Our community is heartbroken by this tragedy and its devastating impact on many families," said Ketchikan Gateway Mayor David Landis in a statement.

The transport planes carried passengers of the Royal Princess during a seven-day round-trip cruise departing from Vancouver, according to Princess Cruises.

Princess Cruises said in a statement: "At Princess Cruises, we are all deeply saddened by this tragic news and we give our full support to the investigating authorities as well as to the traveling companions of the customers concerned" .