The Washington Post :
Two sightseeing planes collided Monday afternoon off the coast of Alaska, leaving five people dead, according to Princess Cruises. All 14 passengers on the two planes came from the cruise ship Royal Princess, which was on a seven-day trip from Vancouver, B.C., to Anchorage.
“We are deeply saddened to report this news and our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives and the families impacted by today’s accident,” the company said in a statement, according to KOMO. The two planes collided Monday at 1:08 p.m. local time, according to Princess Cruises, about eight nautical miles off Ketchikan, Alaska.
All four passengers on the independently operated tour flight died in the crash, Princess Cruises said, as did the pilot of that plane. The names of passengers killed have not been released; one was identified as a Canadian citizen.
Ten people were rescued, the Coast Guard said, but it is unclear if the pilot in the other plane was accounted for or missing.
One plane, a de Havilland Otter seaplane operated by Taquan Air, was carrying 10 guests from the cruise ship as well as a pilot, returning from a tour of the nearby Misty Fjords National Monument. The other aircraft, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver operated by an “independent tour,” according to the cruise line, carried four Royal Princess passengers and a pilot.
The Beaver appeared to have crashed on a steep rocky shoreline, partially submerged upside down in seawater, volunteer rescuer Chris John told the Anchorage Daily News.
