ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Three people were killed after two sightseeing airplanes carrying cruise ship tourists collided in midair Monday near a southeast Alaska town, the Coast Guard said.
Three others remaining missing after the collision near Ketchikan, Coast Guard Lt. Brian Dykens said.
The floatplanes collided under unknown circumstances, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said in an email to The Associated Press. Floatplanes have pontoons mounted under the fuselage so they can land on water.
Eleven people were inside Taquan Air’s single-engine de Havilland Otter DHC-3 when it went down. Ten were taken to a Ketchikan hospital.
All patients were in fair or good condition, according to Marty West, a spokeswoman for PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center.