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Alaskan carrier suspends flights after second floatplane crash

By Darryl Coote

May 22 (UPI) -- An Alaskan air carrier has voluntarily suspended service after another deadly crash Monday -- its second in a week.

The announcement Tuesday came a day after a floatplane crashed into Alaska's Metlakatla Harbor, killing the pilot and a passenger. A week earlier, a collision between two aircraft, one operated by Taquan Air, killed six people and injured 10.

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"We have voluntarily suspended all of our operations until further notice," Taquan Air said in a statement on its website.

"As you can imagine, the past 24 hours have been incredibly overwhelming and we are reeling from not only the incident yesterday, but also from last week," it added. "It's been really a heavy and heartbreaking time for us."

The suspension came as the Metlakatla Police Department identified the dead from Monday's crash as pilot Ron Rash, 51, of Harrisburg, Penn., and passenger Sarah Luna, 31, of Anchorage, Alaska.

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium said on its Facebook page that Luna, a senior epidemiologist, was commuting to Metlakatla to see patients when the crash occurred.

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The Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center said Tuesday the plan was to land in the harbor.

"Initial eyewitness statements report that the plane flipped upon impact and quickly submerged," it said in a press release.

Metlakatla Indian Community Mayor Karl Cook extended appreciation Tuesday to those who responded to the crash and offered sympathies.

"The losses this organization has faced in the past week have been devastating," he said in a letter. "We stand with Taquan Air, in appreciation of all this company does for South East Alaska in general, and Metlakatla in particular."

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

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