Ketchikan: Air tour/charter company lost an aircraft today, pilot and passengers. Parts were found in a lake and recovery efforts underway. A moment of silence for another brother lost, and those who may have been with him.

Take inventory of the good things in your life. Say today things that should have been said yesterday. Show those that matter to you that they are important.

Good luck to all,

Ronin

 

RIP to all involved and my condolences to their families and friends.

 

Every death diminishes us. Take care everybody. Thoughts and prayers to those onboard.

ANCHORAGE — A sightseeing plane with a pilot and four Seattle-based cruise-ship passengers crashed into steep, mountainous terrain Tuesday. There were no survivors, the Coast Guard said.

The wreckage of the single-engine floatplane was spotted by aerial searchers in the area where an aircraft distress signal had been picked up, said Len Laurance, a spokesman for Taquan Air, the Ketchikan-based operator.

Coast Guard Lt. j.g. George Adams said Coast Guard helicopter crews at the heavily forested site were told by searchers at the scene that all aboard the de Havilland Beaver died.

The floatplane left Ketchikan shortly before 1:30 p.m. for a tour over Misty Fiords National Monument. It was found later on land near the south arm of Rudyerd Bay about 35 miles northeast of Ketchikan.

The passengers on board were traveling on the Sun Princess, an 856-foot ship with Princess Cruises that was on the second day of a seven-day round-trip cruise from Seattle. The vessel left Ketchikan two hours after its scheduled departure of 4:30 p.m.

The names of the pilot and passengers were not immediately released.

The cruise-ship company has cut off Taquan Air tours at this time, Princess spokeswoman Julie Benson said in a prepared statement. Princess also has notified the families of the passengers.

 

I knew this pilot very very well. My sympathies to the passengers killed and their families that have to endure the loss.