Searchers are responding to a midair collision of two small commercial airplanes carrying a total of five people in western Alaska.
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The wreckage covers a large area accessible only by helicopter, said Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska…
It’s not known why the midair crash happened about 376 miles west of Anchorage, said Allen Kenitzer, with the Federal Aviation Administration office of communications. Skies were clear and temperatures were around 63 degrees, she said.
‘He truly loved flying and serving the villages.
The planes involved in the collision are a Cessna 208 Caravan of the Hageland Aviation airline company carrying three people and a Piper PA-18 Super Cub of the company Renfro’s Alaska Adventures carrying two people, said Lt. Col. Candis Olmstead, spokesman of the national Guard of Alaska.
Johnson said an initial report was about a possible plane crash involving a Piper PA-18 in the area of Russian Mission, followed shortly after that with another report of another, separate plane that was overdue.
Midair collisions are infrequent in the United States and most happen near airports.
The Alaska Dispatch News reported that Ravn Alaska, which operates Hageland, and Renfro’s did not provide any further details about the crash, the aircraft or its occupants.
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The cause of the crash is under investigation.
