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Nine people on board, went down in Misty Fiords near KTN. No word on survivors yet.

ADN/Alaka Dispatch has already reported all nine aboard died. Was a flight-seeing trip from a Holland America Tour Ship.

http://www.adn.com/article/20150625/nine-dead-southeast-alaska-plane-crash

Aviation
Nine dead in Southeast Alaska plane crash
Tegan Hanlon
June 25, 2015


An image from an FAA webcam in Misty Fjords taken around the estimated time of the crash
Federal Aviation Administration
Update, 7:55 p.m.: NTSB Alaska chief Clint Johnson has confirmed all nine people aboard the plane died.

Original story:

A floatplane carrying nine people, eight of them passengers on a Holland America Line cruise ship, crashed Thursday afternoon near Ketchikan, according to the cruise line and troopers.

RELATED:
Pilot's body found amid wreckage of Southwest Alaska plane crash
Troopers in Ketchikan got a report of an overdue aircraft at 2:06 p.m. Thursday. A pilot with Temsco Helicopters then saw the downed plane about 800 feet above Ella Lake against a granite rock face in the Misty Fjords area, troopers said in an online dispatch.

Holland America Line said in statement that the plane was in an accident about 20 miles northeast of Ketchikan. The plane was a turboprop de Havilland Otter, according to Petty Officer 1st Class Kelly Parker with the U.S. Coast Guard.

The plane, owned by Promech Air, a charter and flightseeing service in Southeast Alaska, was operating a shore excursion sold through Holland America Line, said the statement from the cruise line.

"We are incredibly distressed by this situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with those onboard the plane and their families," the statement said. "Holland America Line is extending its full support to traveling companions of the guests involved."

The eight passengers aboard the plane had been aboard the Westerdam on a seven-day round-trip cruise that left Seattle on June 20, the statement said.

Troopers said the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified. Troopers, the Coast Guard and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad were responding, troopers said.

Around 4:50 p.m., troopers said the status of those aboard the plane was unknown and their families had not yet been told of the situation.

A Promech Air representative declined to provide immediate comment. According to Promech's website, the company provides flightseeing tours to Misty Fjords National Monument and Neets Bay Salmon Hatchery.

Contact Tegan Hanlon at thanlonalaskadispatch.

Taquaan Air did the same thing/same location a few years back. That lead to them closing shop IIRC.

Taquaan still delivers UPS to us. Most of us here have flown on that plane at one point in time. RIP to the passengers/pilot.

Why did it go down?

Let's see - plane found "against a granite rock face". My money is on: plane went into a cloud bank, pilot get disoriented, pilot panics and doesn't have an escape plan. Smacks into granite wall. I thought all these planes were Capstone equipped. Should be able to avoid this kind of stuff if you can use this technology.

Terrible news. I have friends that own and fly out of Ketchikan so I've been folowing this closely. Not their outfit but heartbreaking all the same.

Prayers for all involved

For what it's worth, many of the promech pilots come from the Keys in Florida and some of them have little to zero experience flying in Alaska. Still a terrible deal though. They had a beaver go down last year.

Taquaan is still very much in business, they fly all over the place.

Taquan is in business and doing fine. You are right about Promech and the keys. We have friend that flys for Promech and he is a bush pilot but most ain't. Sad situation

Yup. I have flown with Charlie quite a few times, I used to work out at Neets Bay and they fly tourists to the bear tours out there. Charlie was in the beaver that went down last year, he was a good pilot though. Everyone survived that trip through the trees. Have they released the pilot's name yet?

Does Island Air still operate down there?

Yep

I was just flying around there with Island Air a few weeks ago. Terrible news...

Sad news. RIP

Anyone who has flown in the less settled parts of Alaska and never had a ‘close one’ probably hasn’t really flown much or for long.....and you don’t always know how close you’ve been to ‘cumulus granite’, as some have been known to call it.

It was super foggy yesterday afternoon and the route they take goes up and over quite a few mountains.

Big difference between a pilot and a bush pilot. A pilot needs only money to become one. I'm not at liberty to say more

Best bush pilot I ever flew with was up in the interior. The craziest was/is down here in Ketchikan. I trust them both with my life though. Very different styles.

I saw a crazy goof on Kodiak last fall. Would never fly with him.

Harley McManus is by FAR the best I have ever flown with. If you have a copy of My Alaska his dad was one of the pilots. Harley is an artist with a supercub, and that is no joke.

Island Air Express is a top notch operation, and pretty much the only operation I fly with anymore. I've taken a tour of their hanger, and you could eat off the floor it was so clean.

Well crap - friends of ours just informed us that a former neighbor of theirs was just involved in a plane crash in AK involving 8 passengers on a shore excursion from a cruise. He was the pilot - has to be the same one discussed here. I'd met him and his wife a couple of times but didn't really know them well other than they moved to AK a few years ago. I have no knowledge of his aviation background, but just damn...

Based on records provided by Holland America, Promech Air and identifications provided to law enforcement, the victims are believed to be:

71-year-old Rowland Cheney and 59-year-old Mary Doucette, of Lodi, Calif.
31-year-old Glenda Cambiaso and 65-year-old Hugo Cambiaso, of North Potomac, Md.
73-year-old June Kranenburg and 63-year-old Leonard Kranenburg, of Medford, Ore.
63-year-old Margie Apodaca and 70-year-old Raymond Apodaca, of Sparks, Nev.
64-year-old pilot Bryan Krill, of Hope, Idaho

http://www.ktva.com/plane-reported-...found-on-southeast-alaska-cliffside-671/

That plane went down about 3 miles in a straight line behind my right shoulder. Those are my old 'stomping' grounds. Not quite to Ella Lake, but all around Big Lake and Mirror Lake.

That's him - terrible for all involved, especially their families.

Harley is a friend of mine and it's McMahon. His brother Chuck aint bad either. I've flown with Ron and Charlie Warbelow, both deceased and formerly of 40Mile Air. They were very good.

Sorry on the spelling, it's been a few years.

Alaska is different flying from what I hear from those that have flown there. I understand there are some God awful winds that come out of those mountain passes.

Most of the folks I know up there that fly say its not if, but when you either have a mechanical issue or make a mistake.

At certain times and places, you can't afford either, or both. THere is no room for recovery.

IMHO its simply a price you pay for flying where they do.

OTOH you can refuse to fly except for perfect conditions/forecasts and even that can eventually bite you.

Capstone was supposed to help eliminate mistakes, it was in place in bush planes in 2003 the first time I flew in a bush plane.

Williwaws can be VERY impressive.

Glaciers powering katabatic winds are the usual driver...

No worries, I did it too actually. It's McMahan, not McMahon. I do have trouble keeping that straight.

Not like the press to sensationalize things. Certainly not a granite rock face. (NTSB photos)

Except in all the places with katabatic winds, and no glaciers.

Lots of 'cat paws' on the waters around coastal mountains, and not a glacier for 100's of miles.

'cat paw' example from the internet...

Absolutely! Should have used "common" instead of usual perhaps.