A small plane crashed in the area of Iliamna in southern Alaska on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring more.
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Authorities have named the people killed as Tony W DeGroot, from Hanford, California, Dr James P Fletcher, from Clovis, California, and Dr James Specter, a dentist from Shavertown, Pennsylvania.
Johnson said the plane came to rest in some trees. Edward Eagerton said there were seven survivors of the crash, which troopers said was first reported at about 6:30 a.m.
The Alaska Air National Guard dispatched an HC-130 aircraft, which flew through low clouds, rain and gray skies to reach the survivors, Eagerton said.
In late June, a similar plane crashed during a flight in Misty Fjords National Park in southeast Alaska, killing the pilot and eight people on a shore excursion from a cruise ship.
Nearby residents recalled running out to the lakeside forest in the pre-dawn hours with flashlights and other equipment to assist with the initial search about 300 yards from the runway. Two NTSB investigators were heading to Iliamna on Tuesday, he said.
The aircraft a De Havilland DHC-3 Turbine Otter on floats belonged to an liamna fishing lodge. “Clinic personnel from the local airfield were able to arrive and perform an initial assessment”.
The plane was taking off to head to a remote fishing spot in a river when it went down outside the tiny town of liamna, 175 miles (282 kilometres) southwest of Anchorage, National Transportation Safety Board Alaska Chief Clint Johnson said.
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Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says in an email to The Associated Press that the plane crashed on takeoff at Eastwind Lake, 1 mile north of Iliamna.
