Crews have started recovering the wreckage of a Cessna 207 operated by Wings of Alaska that crashed Friday as it traveled between Juneau and Hoonah, killing the pilot and injuring four passengers.
A helicopter began recovery efforts Sunday, according to Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska regional office.
The four injured passengers were airlifted from the site Friday by rescuers with the U.S. Coast Guard. On Saturday, officials were able to reach the site of the crash, where "very rough" wooded terrain required them to be lowered by hoist from a Coast Guard helicopter.
The body of the pilot, 45-year-old Fariah Peterson, was recovered Saturday.
The four survivors were identified as Humberto Hernandez-Aponte, 57, and his wife, Sandra Herrera Lopez, 60, both of Juneau; Jose Vazquez, 15, of Puerto Rico; and Ernestine Hanlon-Abel, 64, of Hoonah. Lopez and Hanlon-Abel were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Saturday.
The Coast Guard released video of the rescue efforts Sunday.
The plane's wreckage will be taken back to Juneau and stored in a hangar there, Johnson said. Representatives with the aircraft and engine manufacturers will also be on hand as the NTSB continues its investigation.
Meanwhile, the wreckage of another plane that crashed in treacherous terrain in Southeast Alaska will remain in place for now, Johnson said. A de Havilland Otter operated by Promech Air that crashed in late June, killing nine, remains on a steep cliffside east of Ketchikan, awaiting the arrival of a helicopter capable of lifting heavy loads.
Johnson estimated it will be "another week or so" before that wreckage can be recovered.