Australian, Canadian missing in Alaskan waters after tour planes crash
Anchorage: Rescue teams were searching the waters of southeast Alaska for two passengers missing after a pair of sightseeing planes crashed in midair, killing at least four people, the US Coast Guard said on Tuesday.
The two missing people, an Australian and a Canadian, were among 14 passengers from a Princess Cruises ship who boarded two seaplanes operated by separate tour companies in the town of Ketchikan, the cruise line said. No further information about the missing was made available.
Ten people survived but were injured in the collision, which took place over open water during daylight hours on Monday, the Coast Guard said. At least four, including one of the pilots, were killed. A statement by Princess Cruise Lines, reported in US media, put the death toll at five. The victims were not immediately identified.
The water temperature off Ketchikan on Tuesday was 8.8 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Expected survival time in four to 10-degree water is one to three hours, according to the United States Search & Rescue Task Force website.
"At this point there is a variety of factors that go into survivability," Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Matthew Schofield said. "But the reality is that Alaskan waters are very cold."
Dive teams plunged into the icy cold waters, searching an area the size of 24 football fields. The search involved a Coast Guard helicopter, a flotilla of boats and teams from the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ketchikan Fire Department and other rescue units, Schofield said.
The effort will continue "until we have exhausted all chance of finding anybody," he said.
All of the planes' passengers arrived in Ketchikan on the cruise ship Royal Princess during a seven-day trip between Vancouver and Anchorage, Princess Cruises said.
The Royal Princess, which can carry up to 3600 people, was among four city-sized cruise ships in the tiny coastal community on Monday.
During port stops, visitors can shop in tourist stores or take part in several excursions, such as visiting an Alaska Native village, tour the backcountry, or visit a raptor center.
The crash site, at Coon Cove about 480km south of Alaska's capital, Juneau, lies near a tourist lodge that runs excursions to the nearby Misty Fjords National Monument.
Ten passengers and a pilot were aboard one float plane, a de Havilland Otter DHC-3, operated by Taquan Air. Four passengers and a pilot were aboard the second float plane, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, run by Mountain Air Service of Ketchikan.
Ketchikan-based Taquan Air said the plane was returning from a sightseeing tour of Misty Fjords when the crash occurred.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of at least 10 people headed by lead investigator Aaron Sauer, said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.
Reuters, AP