Alaska News

Seaplane goes missing on short flight out of Sitka

Searchers are looking for a seaplane with two people aboard that went out for a 20-minute tour near Sitka on Saturday and never came back, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

A red and white Piper PA-18 Super Cub plane left a Sitka seaplane base Saturday night for a 20-minute tour of Katlian Bay and Olga Strait, north of the town, the Coast Guard said in a release Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Juneau station notified the Coast Guard about the overdue plane.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew searched through the night for the seaplane, with a cutter joining the search Sunday morning, according to the Coast Guard.

It's not clear whether the missing plane was on a commercial tour, said Clint Johnson, the Alaska head of the National Transportation Safety Board.

"Right now the emphasis is on the search," he said.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

ADVERTISEMENT