ILIAMNA -- Authorities on Wednesday identified the pilot and six survivors of a Tuesday morning floatplane crash near the Southwest Alaska town of Iliamna as investigators continued to look into what may have caused the crash that left three others dead.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Millicent Hoidal said she, another NTSB investigator, an FAA investigator and a representative of the aircraft engine manufacturer had been assessing the site where the de Havilland DHC-3T Turbine Otter crashed since Wednesday morning.
The Otter, owned and operated by the Rainbow King Lodge, crashed shortly after takeoff from East Wind Lake, not far from the Iliamna Airport. The plane was being flown by 54-year-old John Furnia of New York, Alaska State Troopers said in an online dispatch. NTSB Alaska Chief Clint Johnson said Tuesday that the plane was headed to a fishing site with guests and guides onboard when it crashed.
Three of the plane's nine passengers -- Tony W. DeGroot, 80, of Hanford, California; James P. Fletcher, 70, of Clovis, California; and James Specter, 69, of Shavertown, Pennsylvania -- died in the wreck.
The surviving passengers were identified as Pennsylvania residents Justin L. Schillaci, 27, and David W. Wood, 67; California residents Robert J. Dingler, 62, and Rodger C. Glaspey, 65; Oregon resident Robert R. Westbrook, 23; and Utah resident Seth J. Hofland, 25.
The crash site was near a private road, which allowed investigators to hike in a quarter-mile and offered relatively easy access to the downed plane. Still, Hoidal said there were some challenges -- like getting access to the top of the left wing that remained standing fully upright, above the surrounding trees, when the plane came to rest.
The plane sat on boggy ground just 100 yards from East Wind Lake. Its right side was planted firmly into the hilly tundra, surrounded by alders and spruce trees, with the left side sticking straight into the air. The propeller blades were curled backward and the underside of the front of the plane was crumpled.
Hoidal said the on-scene investigation would likely be completed by Wednesday evening or Thursday. From there, the plane would be moved to a hangar in Iliamna for further investigation. She expected that a helicopter would take parts of the wreckage to the nearby hangar.
Johnson said it will be "quite a while" before anyone can definitively say what caused the crash.
While it was not immediately clear what the conditions were when the Otter took off, Johnson said investigators will gather information on weather, wind conditions and daylight from witnesses.
Hoidal had no new information on what contributed to the crash Wednesday. She said the NTSB had not conducted any interviews with surviving passengers, pilot or the lodge owners. Hoidal said the interviews would happen in the next week.
All six of the surviving passengers and the pilot were taken to Anchorage Tuesday for treatment of their injuries.
Furnia was listed in good condition Wednesday at Providence Alaska Medical Center, as was Glaspey. Westbrook was listed in fair condition at Providence. No information on the conditions of the others was immediately available.
Things were quiet on the morning after the crash in the twin towns of Iliamna and Newhalen, which have a combined population of about 300.
Rainbow King Lodge, on the north edge of Iliamna Lake, placed a large spray-painted sign outside the lodge asking media to stay away "out of respect for family & crew." A blanket was placed over the window of the main entrance of the lodge while people came and went.
Locals said rainbow trout and silver salmon season was finishing up. Guiding operations were still busy, with floatplanes buzzing overhead, transporting people to the numerous lakes around the region. Despite some cloud cover, the weather was mostly clear Wednesday morning, a marked change from intermittent rain and fog Tuesday.
Hoidal didn't know what arrangement Rainbow King Lodge had to use the private East Wind Lake for floatplanes. Iliamna-based state trooper Joseph Minnick said nearby Pike Lake served as the public floatplane lake, but that multiple lodges in the area operate floatplane services throughout the summer.
Reporter Megan Edge contributed to this report from Anchorage.