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KETCHIKAN, Alaska (KTUU) – The death of three people has been confirmed and three people are still missing as a result of a collision between two 16-passenger seaplanes combined, said the Coast Guard.
Princess Cruises confirmed that one of the planes had passengers from a Princess cruise ship.
The local tourism operator Taquan Air has sent a statement that deHavilland Otter, which carried 10 passengers and a pilot, was one of his planes.
The company says it has suspended all scheduled flights.
Original story:
The US Coast Guard, its partner agencies and volunteers are currently searching for three missing persons following reports of two seaplanes colliding around George Inlet near Ketchikan, Alaska.
Allen Kenitzer of the Federal Aviation Administration said the two aircraft collided. The circumstances are unknown. According to Kenitzer, local authorities said five people were on board a deHavilland DHC-2 Beaver and 11 on board a de Havilland Otter.
In the first report, 10 people were counted, according to the Coast Guard. A representative of the Ketchikan Fire Department said around 3:30 pm Monday, more people were found, but can not specify in what state or in what state they are.
It has been confirmed that 10 people have been hospitalized, said officials of the PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center. One is in critical condition, that is, life-threatening injuries, associated with extremely unstable vital signs and not within the normal range. Three people are in serious condition, while six others are in acceptable condition, said Mischa Chernick, a hospital official.
With respect to rescue operations, US Coast Guard Master Jon-Paul Rios said the USCG was not aware of the circumstances surrounding the reason for the aircraft's downfall. but the crews were working as quickly as possible to locate the missing passengers.
"A case like this, we will search as long as possible," he said.
Aircraft accidents are not uncommon in Alaska. However, Rios said that during his three years working here, it was a unique situation: the group did not recently see two planes coming down in the same area at about the same time.
It is unclear whether there is a connection between the two aircraft or whether it is a coincidence that they fell at the same time, near the same place. The Coast Guard could not tell if the accident was a collision in the air or not.
Coast Guard Area Juneau Command Center observers on Monday launched a Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk Sitka helicopter crew and two 45-foot rapid response crews from Ketchikan Coast Guard Station in response to the incident.
Several publications on Facebook indicated that at least one of the float planes was part of a guided tour that involved several cruise ship passengers.
This is a story in development. Please come back for more details.
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