Second deadly crash of Alaska sightseeing plane prompts federal scrutiny

JUNEAU, Alaska — Federal officials will investigate the second sightseeing plane to crash in the southeast Alaska community of Ketchikan within a month, officials said today.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators will examine the cause of the two tour-plane crashes that killed five people each.

Four Oregon residents and a California man were killed Thursday night when a small airplane crashed near Ketchikan. Five other people were killed in a separate crash last month.

The NTSB is sending two investigators from Anchorage and pulling four special investigators from Washington D.C., said Jim La Belle, the agency's regional director for Alaska.

Additionally, one of the NTSB's five presidentially appointed board members, Debbie Hersman, will take part in the investigation since she was already in Alaska for a meeting, La Belle said.

The additional resources are warranted because it's the second tour plane to crash within a month, La Belle said.

"We want to see if there are some underlying issues," LaBelle said. "The more eyes and the more skill sets you have, the easier it becomes.

"From our perspective, this is a high visibility accident and it's going to get a lot of scrutiny. Everyone has a real concern here."

The cause of Thursday's crash was not immediately known, but Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said high winds unexpectedly came up at the time of the crash. However, it couldn't immediately be determined if that was a factor.

Troopers today released the identities of the five victims and four survivors.

Killed in the crash were: Eric M. Smith, 37; Christine L. Smith, 36; and 3-year-old Trevor R. Smith 3, all of Tualatin, Ore.; David R. Mayer, 60, Oregon City, Ore. and Daniel J. Herron, 49, of Irvine, Calif.

Troopers identified the survivors as pilot Clifford S. Kamm, 44, and Sara J. Steffen, 27, both of Ketchikan; Allison N. Smith, 3, of Tualatin, and Mindy M. Mayer, 60, of Oregon City. All were flown to a Seattle hospital for treatment.

Ketchikan Public Safety Director Rich Leipfert said the SeaWind Aviation deHavilland Beaver 345KA crashed into a tree just after 6 p.m. at Traitor's Cove, about 25 miles north of Ketchikan. Jerry Kiffer with the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad said the plane went down on land about 200 feet from shore.

Peters said it couldn't be immediately confirmed that the plane hit a tree, but several trees were burning after the crash.

The bodies were to be recovered Friday.

SeaWind Aviation offers bear viewing and sightseeing tours, including to nearby Misty Fiords National Monument.

Investigators will be looking at a multiple of possible causes, including weather at the time of the crash, the plane's flight and maintenance logs, and the pilot's ratings and medical records.

FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said all the variables that could have affected the flight will be considered.

"They will try to find out what really happened," Kenitzer said Friday.

Last month, the pilot and four passengers of a sightseeing plane died when the plane crashed in the mountains of Misty Fiords National Monument, also near Ketchikan. (That plane was operated by Taquan Air, a Ketchikan-based flightseeing service.)