Mid Air Collision in Alaska

lintdrummer

From the New York Times:

TRAPPER CREEK, Alaska -- Four people died when a plane crashed and burst into flames Saturday afternoon after colliding with another aircraft near Trapper Creek, Alaska.

Alaska State Troopers told the Anchorage Daily News that the Cessna 180's four occupants died in the accident.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials said the aircraft -- a single-engine floatplane -- hit the ground and burst into flames after the collision.

"When our responders got on scene, the plane was fully engulfed in flames," Dennis Brodigan, emergency services director at Matanuska-Susitna Borough, said.

The other aircraft, also a floatplane, was damaged and circled the scene looking for survivors before heading to Anchorage about 110 miles (177km) south, KTUU-TV reported.

The single-engine Cessna 206 -- with just the 56-year-old pilot on board -- touched down at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport after its north-south runway was closed for the emergency landing.

The pilot was uninjured and investigators have interviewed him.

State troopers have recovered the bodies from the crashed plane, but were waiting for positive identification from the state medical examiner's office before naming the victims.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are both investigating the crash.

The crash occurred 21 miles (34km) southwest of Talkeetna Airport and 12 miles (19km) southwest of Trapper Creek.

Earlier this month, two small planes were involved in a midair collision over a narrow river valley about 100 miles (160km) southwest of Anchorage. All 13 people on board survived.

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Hogzy

Not to be insensitive or anything but i was under the belief that these sort of accidents were extremely common in Alaska.
There seems to be light aircraft going down left right and center.

Why did this particular one make the news?

lintdrummer

I know what you mean. They rely a lot on light aircraft for transport up there and with weather conditions the way they usually are it just makes it a dangerous place to fly.

I presume they reported this because it's a mid air collision. Unfortunately that's news worthy because it's dramatic.