Sightseeing plane in Alaska

[RiverCity]

Anyone hear about a sightseeing plane going down in Alaska? It had tourists, possibly from a cruise ship. I am on several cruise boards (a yearly cruise passenger) and we have info only from this morning's Anchorage Daily News www.adn.com (http://www.adn.com)

[ 31 July 2001: Message edited by: RiverCity ]

[RATBOY]

There is a better story in the Fairbanks News Miner. It was a LAB Flying Service Cherokee 6 with 6 aboard. Operation was out of Skagway with 4 German,1 Canadian and American pilot. Pax were part of tour out of Whithorse, Yukon.

This has been a very sad week for Alaska aviation with a number of fine people lost. Condolences to their friends and families.

[ 31 July 2001: Message edited by: RATBOY ]

[Cyclic Hotline]

Sincere condolences to the families and colleagues of those affected by this accident. There can be few more amazing things to do then see the wonder of this area from an airplane; few sadder than to have something like this occur to people enjoying a vacation and the adventure of a lifetime. :(


Current weather is similar to yesterday afternoon, with a high overcast, but all the mountain tops obscured and localised low clouds in the valleys. One of my aircraft just returned after being unable to head South due to weather. The recovery operation was on hold for weather at last report.

Really not much beyond the ADN report, other than this on Yahoo news.


Six Die in Crash of Sightseeing Plane

HAINES, Alaska (AP) - A sightseeing plane ferrying tourists crashed near Glacier Bay National Park, killing six people, authorities said.

Four of the passengers were German tourists, and one was a Canadian, according to Alaska State Troopers. The pilot was an American.

The Cherokee Six plane operated by LAB Flying Service of Haines took off from Skagway about 2 p.m. Monday. A search was launched when the single-engine plane didn't return by 5 p.m.

The Coast Guard honed in on an emergency beacon at the 5,000-foot level of the Davidson Glacier, about a dozen miles south of Haines near Glacier Bay National Park, south of Juneau.

Two Coast Guard helicopters were dispatched with a rescue team from Juneau Mountain Rescue that landed at the crash site. There were no signs of survivors.

The crash was not the first for LAB. In July of 1995, another LAB Cherokee Six slammed into a mountainside above Pyramid Harbor, a few miles north of Monday's crash site, also killing six. Investigators said that crash was caused by pilot error.

A LAB Piper PA-32 crashed into the Davidson Glacier in September of 1996, injuring two people seriously, one of them from Germany. Four others on the aircraft had only minor injuries.

A Cherokee Six operated by LAB also crashed on Admiralty Island on a flight from Juneau to Kake in October 1997. Two died in that crash.

LAB has about three dozen planes operating across Southeast Alaska. The company's business operations are in Haines and flight operations are based in Juneau.

[RiverCity]

I have vacationed in Alaska, all over the state (Arctic to Ketchikan), many times and feel some kinship to those who visit. Although I am saddened by any sudden loss of life, I personally can think of no other place in which I would care to pass on. Its stark beauty would, for me, be a wonderful place to begin eternity. I once scattered the ashes of a man who so wanted to be there and was unable, due to illness, to make the trip. It was an honor to serve his memory that way.

[Cyclic Hotline]

There is a NASIP team on their way from Washington D.C. to inspect this carrier. 16 deaths in 10 years - don't look good!

NASIP link. http://www.alaska.faa.gov/flt_std/NASIP/nasipman.htm