Five people were killed Wednesday after two small commercial planes collided midair in Alaska.
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Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to reach the crash site. The Caravan was flown by Wasilla pilot Harry Wrase, 48, and carried passengers Steven Paul Andrew, 32, of Russian Mission and Aaron Jay Minock, 21, of Russian Mission. Babat was piloting a Renfro’s Alaskan Adventures Piper Super Cub and heading for a hunting camp.
Three people were aboard the Cessna 208 Caravan of Hageland Aviation, and two on the Piper PA-18 Super Cub. “There are no survivors following [the] crash of two planes [in the area] this morning”.
Of the pilot, who is survived by two children, she said: ‘My uncle had the biggest heart.
The crash occurred shortly before 11 pm to about 100 km north of Bethel, according to information from the National Guard in Alaska reported by ABC News.
An Alaska Army National Guard helicopter ferrying medics was arriving at the crash site, Olmstead said.
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.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, authorities said.
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“Initially we thought it was just involving one airplane”, Johnson said. “What we want to do is to see if either one of these airplanes was able to see one another, either electronically or visually”.
