Ketchikan, Alaska:Four people were killed and two others are missing after two floatplanes carrying cruise ship tourists collided Monday near the southeast Alaska town of Ketchikan, the Coast Guard said.
4 dead as two sightseeing planes collide off Alaska A team of federal accident investigators is expected to arrive in Alaska Tuesday to find out the cause of the mishap.
The floatplanes collided under unknown circumstances, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.
Floatplanes have pontoons mounted under the fuselage so they can land on water.
The passengers were from the cruise ship Royal Princess and were on sightseeing flights, one of which was operated by flightseeing company Taquan Air.
Eleven people were inside Taquan's single-engine de Havilland Otter DHC-3 when it went down as it returned from Misty Fjords National Monument, which is part of the Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest. Ten people were taken to a Ketchikan hospital.
All patients were in fair or good condition, according to Marty West, a spokeswoman for PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center.
Three people who died were among five people aboard the second plane, a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, according to Coast Guard Lt. Brian Dykens. It's unclear which plane carried the fourth victim, whose body was recovered during a Monday night search, Rios said.
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Local emergency responders worked with state and federal agencies and good Samaritan vessels to help rescue and recover victims.
A spokeswoman for Taquan Air, operator of the Otter, said the company had suspended operations while federal authorities investigate the deadly crash.
