Crews reach site of sightseeing plane crash in Southeast Alaska

Updated: August 12, 2021 Published: August 12, 2021

In this undated photo from Google Earth, passengers are near a Southeast Aviation de Havilland Beaver. AST said a plane with the tail number N1249K crashed Aug. 5, 2021, killing 5 passengers and the pilot near Misty Fjords National Monument. (Google Earth screenshot)

Improved weather conditions Wednesday allowed crews to access the site where a sightseeing plane crashed last week in southeast Alaska, killing six people.

Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska division, said he was hopeful the wreckage could be returned to Ketchikan later Wednesday.

A pilot and five passengers died in the crash last Thursday. The passengers were off a cruise ship and had taken the flight to nearby Misty Fjords National Monument.

The plane crashed on the side of a mountain in a rugged, steep area that is heavily forested, at 1,800 feet to 2,000 feet, Johnson has said.

The site is about 12 miles northeast of Ketchikan, he has said.

The bodies were recovered Saturday, but poor weather delayed retrieval of the plane. NTSB investigators have been working other aspects of the investigation.