No injuries after flightseeing plane crashes into Homer marsh

No one was injured when a flightseeing plane lost engine power Monday afternoon and crashed into a marsh in Homer, authorities said.

The float-equipped Cessna 185 departed from Beluga Lake with two passengers around 2 p.m., said Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska office. The lake in Homer is the base of operations for Adventure Airways, which owns the plane.

The engine lost power after the plane became airborne and the plane flipped over after the pilot made an emergency landing in a marsh, Johnson said.

The plane was upside down in 6 to 12 inches of swampy water near the head of Beluga Lake when the Homer Volunteer Fire Department arrived at the scene, Chief Mark Kirko said. Responders reached the plane with an Argo all-terrain vehicle, he said. The pilot and two passengers were transported to the road and evaluated by medics, but no one was injured, Kirko said.

“As far as plane crashes go, it was pretty fortunate for those folks that they were all able to walk away from it,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the plane to lose power, but the NTSB will investigate, Johnson said.

Adventure Airways also operates as Alaska Bear Safaris. The company offers air taxi services and flightseeing trips to Katmai and Lake Clark national parks, according to their website. An official with the company declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday.