9 Killed When Plane Carrying Cruise Passengers Crashes in Alaska

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The Holland America Line cruise ship Westerdam docked in Ketchikan, Alaska, on Thursday. Eight passengers on a sightseeing excursion from the ship and a pilot were killed in a floatplane crash earlier that day.

Emergency workers recovered the remains of nine people killed when a small plane slammed into a cliff in rural Alaska the day before, defying wind, rain and low cloud cover on Friday to retrieve the bodies from a steep rock face, according to emergency officials and media reports.

The Alaska Dispatch News reported that the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad, working with the Alaska Department of Public Safety, secured the wreckage and moved the remains to a nearby Coast Guard ship.
€œWe a€™re beginning to break down now and get everyone home,€ Chris John, a member of the rescue team, told the Dispatch News.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the crash was stymied for the second day in a row because of bad weather and the location of the accident site, high above a lake on the face of a steep cliff, a spokesman for the safety board said.

The floatplane, which was operating a sightseeing excursion for passengers of a Holland America Line cruise ship, crashed into a cliff roughly 800 feet above Ella Lake at about 2 p.m. Thursday, officials said. The crash site is about 20 miles northeast of Ketchikan, Alaska.

€œThe wreckage is in an area where the terrain is very steep, said Megan Peters, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety.

Investigators hope to gain access on Saturday, but Ms. Peters said that recovery would be a “a slow process.

€œWe are doing everything we can to collect the remains so we can give some closure to the family members,€ she said.

Holland America said the flight was carrying the pilot and eight guests from the Westerdam, a ship that had left Seattle on June 20 on a seven-day cruise. The plane was taking passengers on a sightseeing excursion to the Misty Fjords area. Holland America said the plane was owned and operated by Promech Air, a charter company in Ketchikan that describes itself on its website as “the largest air taxi in southern Southeast Alaska.

€œAll of us share the pain and anguish of this terrible event,” Marcus Sessoms, the president of Promech Air, said in a statement. €œOur thoughts and our prayers go out to everyone touched by this tragedy.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the plane,  Havilland DHC-3 Otter, had crashed €œunder unknown circumstances.

The Coast Guard received a report around 2:15 p.m. Thursday that the plane was overdue at its base, said Petty Officer Third Class Lauren Steenson, a Coast Guard spokeswoman. She said the crash site was discovered by a civilian search party involving two planes from Promech Air and a helicopter from a local transportation company.

The Ketchikan region is a vast wilderness that draws thousands of tourists to Alaska each year. Promech Air advertises tours of “towering granite cliffs, 1,000-foot waterfalls, lush and remote valleys and serene crystalline lakes.€ Ketchikan is about 800 miles southeast of Anchorage.

In a statement, the cruise line said, €œAll of us at Holland America Line are incredibly saddened by this news, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those lost in this tragic accident.

Ref: freenewsheadlines

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