Recovery Crew Reaches Wreckage of Deadly Alaska Plane Crash

A recovery crew Friday reached the wreckage of a sightseeing plane that crashed into an Alaskan mountainside Thursday, killing eight cruise ship passengers and the pilot.

Chris John of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad said three members from his organization reached the site Friday and were securing the aircraft, which was sitting at a steep angle, in order to allow for recovery of the bodies . . .

“The initial rescue crew that went in had a very tough time because of the terrain,” National Transportation Safety Board official Clint Johnson said, “It’s a very steep, mountainous area, and weather conditions caused them to stand down.’

There was no immediate indication of why the DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter turboprop crashed. It was found Thursday against the cliff’s granite rock face, 800 feet above Ella Lake.

Johnson said it was too soon to know circumstances of the crash, including whether the plane flew into the cliff. The NTSB was assembling a high-level team to investigate the crash, including three members from Alaska and at least two people from Washington, D.C. (Read more from “Recovery Crew Reaches Wreckage of Deadly Alaska Plane Crash” HERE)

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