Plane Crash in Alaska: Nine Victims Identified

The plane crash in Alaska is one of the most sudden and horrible accidents this month. By now all of the victims got identified, and the causes of the accident are currently being investigated.

The The Inquisitr reported that the plane crash in Alaska happened during the shore excursion:

“Nine people were killed while participating in a Holland America Line shore excursion in Alaska. Eight cruise passengers were on an Alaskan sightseeing tour offered through the Holland America shore excursion program when the accident took place. All eight cruise ship passengers and the pilot died when the Otter aircraft smashed into the side of a cliff in southeast Alaska just above Ella Lake.”

As it was mentioned, it was impossible to recover the victims’ bodies due to poor weather conditions, which could harm rescuers, taking into account dangerous location of the crashed plane. However, today, according to the Yahoo News, after many efforts and attempts, the bodies were finally found and retrieved:

“The bodies were recovered by a team of eight crew members, four on site and four as support, working for several hours and using two helicopters and a seaplane, said Chris John of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad.

Crew members secured the wreckage of the float plane with cables, brought out the bodies one by one and transferred them to a Coast Guard cutter in a nearby bay, he said.

“It was quite an endeavor, but we got it done,” John said. “For such a sad thing like this, the operation went well.”

The fuselage was intact but badly damaged, and all the victims were inside the aircraft, he said.”

NBC News reports that all nine victims were identified on the spot:

“The pilot of the single-engine turboprop plane that crashed into a cliff face near Ketchikan during a sightseeing tour Thursday was identified as Bryan Krill, 64 of Hope, Idaho, the Alaska State Troopers said.

The eight passengers were identified as: Hal Cheney, 71, and Mary Doucette, 59, both of Lodi, California; Glenda Cambiaso, 31, and Hugo Cambiaso, 65, both of North Potomac, Maryland; June Kranenburg, 73, and Leonard Kranenburg, 63, both of Medford, Oregon; and Margie Apodaca, 63, and Raymond Apodaca, 70, both of Sparks, Nevada.”

The bodies will be sent to the relatives after the end of the investigation. The causes of the plane crash in Alaska so far remain unknown.

[Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images News]