A cruise passenger died in Alaska and two others were injured during a sightseeing excursion. The plane. Carrying six cruise passengers, crashed into a mountain on Tuesday.
The small plane, a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, crashed near the town of Petersburg, Clint Johnson, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska regional office told USA Today.
The six passengers, who were members of the same family, were on a cruise with Lindblad Expeditions' National Geographic Sea Bird. The small 62-passenger ship often takes expedition cruises that allow passengers to get close-up encounters with nature and local wildlife.
"We are deeply saddened by this tragedy," New York-based Lindblad says in a statement sent to USA TODAY. "Our thoughts are with the people involved in this accident and their families."
Alaska state troopers investigated the wreckage and identified Thomas Rising, 66, of Santa Fe, N.M. as the passenger who died. The claim that his body was trapped in the plane and wasn't immediately removed because the plane is located near a precipice. Nightfall and bad weather also played a factor in this, Alaska state troopers said.
Two of his family members were seriously injured. One suffered from a broken back and the other broke their leg. The pilot and the three other family members had minor injures.
Flightseeing company Pacific Wings was operating the plane involved in the accident. According to Johnson, the plane landed at a 1,000-foot level of the mountain, creating a dangerous, unstable and steep access point for rescuers.
The NTSB is investigating the crash.
This isn't the first time a cruise passenger died during an excursion in Alaska. Back in July. Michael Ray Fullerton, 62, a passenger on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas was on a kayaking adventure on Mendenhall Lake with three of his family members when his kayak overturned. Fullerton was in the frigid waters for nearly 30 minutes and later died.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
