Floatplanes Collide in Alaska with Cruise Ship Excursion Passengers on Board; At Least 5 Dead


Two floatplanes that were providing sightseeing tours collided in midair on Monday.

The crash happened near Ketchikan, Alaska with both planes falling from the sky – one landing in a lake and one in the ocean, both still submerged. *Some details are still unverified as the crash is still being investigated.

Federal aviation investigators are said to be making their way to the crash sites as of Monday evening/Tuesday morning.



Initial reports say that there are 5 fatalities, 10 injuries and 1 person who is unaccounted for. Many of the passengers on the planes were also cruise ship passengers who were booked on excursions to view the Alaska scenery.

On Tuesday, CBSNews reported, “Princess Cruises said one of the planes was flying a shore excursion sold through its cruise line, and that it was carrying ten guests and a pilot. The second plane, an independent flight tour, was carrying four people from the cruise ship Royal Princess as well as a pilot, it said.”

Princess Cruise Line confirmed that two de Havilland planes, a DHC-2 Beaver and an Otter DHC-3 collided a few minutes after 1pm local time. The pilot and all four passengers on the DHC-2 Beaver were killed. The Otter DHC-3 was carrying 11 people, 10 of whom were injured with one passenger listed as missing.

Injured passengers were taken to PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center.

It’s also been reported that one of the planes was operated by Taquan Air and was flying as part of an excursion tour booked through Princess Cruises. The other plane was operating independently.

Read the latest United States Coast Guard News Release Here: Coast Guard continues response to airplane collision near Ketchikan, Alaska


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