Alaska News

New Mexico tourist killed in Southeast Alaska plane crash

An aircraft carrying six cruise ship passengers in Southeast Alaska crashed on the side of a steep mountain, killing a tourist from New Mexico, Alaska State Troopers reported late Tuesday.

Troopers received a report Tuesday around 4 p.m. of an unaccounted-for Pacific Wings de Havilland Beaver aircraft with seven on board, six tourists and a pilot. The six passengers, from the cruise ship "Seabird," were touring over the LeConte Bay area near Petersburg.

Multiple aircraft responded to the area, and about three hours after the initial report, the United States Coast Guard located the Petersburg-based plane's wreckage about 1,000 feet above sea level near Thunder Mountain, 11 miles west of the community that lies off the main sea routes used by larger cruise ships.

Coast Guard personnel were lowered onto the ground; the responders identified one fatality -- later identified as 66-year-old Thomas L. Rising, of Sante Fe, N.M. -- among the plane's occupants. The injuries of the remaining six survivors were serious but non-life threatening, troopers reported. The Anchorage Daily News reported that one of the passengers had a broken back while another had a broken leg, and they were flown to a Seattle Hospital. Other injuries were minor.

The survivors were initially transported to Petersburg to be treated for their injuries. The Coast Guard was not able to retrieve Rising's remains at that time, however. His body remained trapped inside the aircraft, which rested near a precipice. It was dark and weather conditions were getting worse, troopers reported.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Troopers working with the Coast Guard, Juneau Mountain Rescue and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were continuing efforts to recover the plane as well as Rising.

According to a troopers' spokesperson, crews were worried the plane would fall off the edge of the steep rock face -- responders need to secure the plane before they can retrieve the remains.

The NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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