8 Cruise Passengers and Pilot Killed in Plane Crash In Alaska

An excursion plane crashed yesterday near the town of Kechikan, Alaska, killing the pilot and eight passengers from Holland America Line’s cruise ship Westerdam who were on a sightseeing tour, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed.

The plane’s operator, Promech Air, alerted the authorities after losing communication with the aircraft on Thursday afternoon. The wreckage was reportedly located by a US Coast Guard helicopter on a rocky cliff face some 800 feet above Ella Lake, 20 miles north-east off Kechikan.

Rain and heavy winds stopped the recovery efforts Thursday night. The teams will try to recover the wreck again Friday morning, according to Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska office.

The cause of the crash is still unknown, and the NTSB has sent out a go-team from its Alaska office to investigate.

The family members of the cruise passengers who died in the crash have reportedly disembarked in Kechikan, while the ship has left the town’s port, and will stop in British Columbia for service, prior to resuming its journey and sailing to Seattle.

World Maritime News Staff; Image: USCG