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2 dead in Alaska's second floatplane crash in a week

By Darryl Coote
A floatplane crashed into Metlakatla Harbor in Alaska, killing two people. File Photo by Robert Frola/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons
A floatplane crashed into Metlakatla Harbor in Alaska, killing two people. File Photo by Robert Frola/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons

May 21 (UPI) -- Two people were killed Monday after another floatplane crash in Alaska -- this one at a harbor in the state's southeast, authorities said.

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough said Monday a pilot and a passenger were killed when a Taquan Beaver Floatplane crashed in Metlakatla Harbor.

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"The circumstances of the crash are not being released at this time," the borough said in a statement, adding the identities of the victims wouldn't be released until next of kin were notified.

Officials said a seine boat was first to arrive at the crash scene followed by 15 members of the Metlakatla Volunteer Fire Department.

The Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad dispatched a 26-foot resource boat with eight volunteers, and the wreckage was towed to shore by "good samaritans."

This is the second fatal crash involving a Taquan Air floatplane in a week. A collision May 13 between two aircraft killed six people. Ten people were also injured.

The National Transpiration Safety Board said Tuesday it dispatched investigators from the Anchorage Regional Office to investigate the new crash.

"While owned by the same operator involved in May 13, 2019, mid-air collision, plane was not on sightseeing flight, was a commuter flight," NTSB said in a tweet.

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