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Airline Involved in 2 Deadly Alaska Crashes Suspends Operations, Officials Say Airline Involved in 2 Deadly Alaska Crashes Suspends Operations, Officials Say
(about 3 hours later)
An airline whose planes were involved in two deadly crashes in one week in a remote part of Alaska has voluntarily suspended operations, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday.An airline whose planes were involved in two deadly crashes in one week in a remote part of Alaska has voluntarily suspended operations, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday.
The airline, Taquan Air, which sells sightseeing tours to cruise ship passengers and also carries passengers and cargo across rural Alaska, suspended operations after a crash on Monday that killed two people, the authorities said. Six others were killed in a midair collision involving one of its planes last week.The airline, Taquan Air, which sells sightseeing tours to cruise ship passengers and also carries passengers and cargo across rural Alaska, suspended operations after a crash on Monday that killed two people, the authorities said. Six others were killed in a midair collision involving one of its planes last week.
The most recent crash occurred when a small floatplane, a de Havilland Beaver, flipped over upon landing on Metlakatla Harbor, south of Ketchikan, in southeast Alaska, the F.A.A. said. Taquan Air did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.The most recent crash occurred when a small floatplane, a de Havilland Beaver, flipped over upon landing on Metlakatla Harbor, south of Ketchikan, in southeast Alaska, the F.A.A. said. Taquan Air did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Both people on the plane were killed: the pilot, whose name has not been released, and an epidemiologist identified Tuesday by her employer, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, as Sarah Luna. The crash happened shortly before 4 p.m. on Monday, just hours after investigators looking into last week’s crash left the area, Clint Johnson, the chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s regional office in Alaska, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Deanna Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, said the authorities would not disclose whether Ms. Luna and the pilot were recovered alive. But in a statement Monday, the local government said that both were brought to the Annette Island Service Unit in Metlakatla after the crash. Several people witnessed the crash and some took pictures of it, Mr. Johnson said. He said the witnesses were “very shaken up,” and some had told the authorities what they saw.
Ms. Luna, a liver disease and hepatitis specialist, had been flying to Metlakatla to visit patients at that same medical center, Andy Teuber, the chairman and president of the health consortium, said in a statement. “Sometime during the touchdown the right float dug in, the airplane cartwheeled a number of times, the right wing was severed and the plane came to rest inverted, upside down,” he said. “The cockpit and passenger area were submerged.”
“She was an up and coming research professional, who embodied the characteristics most valuable to our team and was truly committed to improving the health and well-being of Alaska Native people,” Mr. Teuber said. Both people on the plane were killed. The Metlakatla Police Department identified them on Tuesday night as the pilot, Ron Rash, 51, from Harrisburg, Penn., and the passenger, Sarah Luna, 31, of Anchorage.
An F.A.A. spokesman said the agency and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the most recent crash. Deanna Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, said the authorities would not disclose whether they were recovered alive. But in a statement Monday, the local government said that both were brought to the Annette Island Service Unit in Metlakatla after the crash.
Ms. Luna worked as a liver disease and hepatitis specialist for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, which said in a statement that she had been flying to Metlakatla to visit patients at that same medical center.
“She was an up and coming research professional, who embodied the characteristics most valuable to our team and was truly committed to improving the health and well-being of Alaska Native people,” Andy Teuber, the chairman and president of the health consortium, said in the statement.
Mr. Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that weather conditions in the area had been good at the time of Monday’s crash, with winds of 10 miles per hour, visibility in excess of 10 miles and “a light chop on the water.”
He said it was “way too early to speculate” about the cause of the crash. Investigators will spend several days in the area, and would not assume a connection between last week’s crash and the most recent one, he said.
“I have to stress that each one of these are separate events, they are being investigated separately, we have two separate investigators in charge that are looking at different things,” he said. “The accidents are different in nature, but obviously Taquan is the common denominator here.”
Karl S. Cook, the mayor of the Metlakatla Indian Community, expressed his support for Taquan Air in a statement on Tuesday.
“The losses this organization has faced in the past week have been devastating,” he wrote. “We stand with Taquan Air, in appreciation of all this company does for South East Alaska in general, and Metlakatla in particular.”
Last week’s crash killed six people — one pilot and five cruise ship passengers — when a Taquan Air plane collided in midair with a smaller plane. Ten others were injured.Last week’s crash killed six people — one pilot and five cruise ship passengers — when a Taquan Air plane collided in midair with a smaller plane. Ten others were injured.
The passengers on both planes had been on a Royal Princess cruise ship for a seven-day journey billed as a “Voyage of the Glaciers,” the cruise line said.The passengers on both planes had been on a Royal Princess cruise ship for a seven-day journey billed as a “Voyage of the Glaciers,” the cruise line said.
N.T.S.B. investigators said last week that the Taquan plane, a DHC-3T Turbine Otter, descended by several hundred feet and collided with the smaller plane, which had been flying at a more stable altitude.N.T.S.B. investigators said last week that the Taquan plane, a DHC-3T Turbine Otter, descended by several hundred feet and collided with the smaller plane, which had been flying at a more stable altitude.
The other plane, a DHC-2 Beaver owned by Mountain Air Service, was carrying four passengers and one pilot, the N.T.S.B. said.The other plane, a DHC-2 Beaver owned by Mountain Air Service, was carrying four passengers and one pilot, the N.T.S.B. said.
After the crash last week, Taquan Air said in a statement on Facebook that it was “devastated over the loss of all those involved.”After the crash last week, Taquan Air said in a statement on Facebook that it was “devastated over the loss of all those involved.”
“Ketchikan and Alaska’s aviation community are a family and we feel this loss together,” the statement said.“Ketchikan and Alaska’s aviation community are a family and we feel this loss together,” the statement said.
“Taquan has resumed flightseeing tours, scheduled and chartered flights so that Alaskans living in our rural regions have the service they depend on,” it added.“Taquan has resumed flightseeing tours, scheduled and chartered flights so that Alaskans living in our rural regions have the service they depend on,” it added.
The airline did not post a statement to social media after this week’s crash. On Tuesday, its Instagram and Twitter accounts appeared to be deactivated.The airline did not post a statement to social media after this week’s crash. On Tuesday, its Instagram and Twitter accounts appeared to be deactivated.