VANCOUVER — Global Affairs Canada has confirmed one Canadian is among the four dead in a midair crash involving sightseeing planes in Alaska.
The department says the name or hometown of the victim is not being released for privacy reasons.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and loved ones of the Canadian citizen who died in Alaska,” Global Affairs said in an email.
The United States Coast Guard says two floatplanes collided as they carried cruise ship tourists on sightseeing flights near the southeast Alaska town of Ketchikan. Two were still missing Monday night.
Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios, a coast guard spokesman, said 10 survived and were being treated in a Ketchikan hospital.
All the survivors were listed in fair or good condition, said Marty West, a spokeswoman for the PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center.
It’s not known how the planes collided. A team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators was on its way from the Washington, D.C., to the crash site.
Princess Cruises confirmed all the passengers on both planes were from the Royal Princess, which departed Vancouver on Saturday for a trip to Anchorage and was due to return to the port on May 25.
Eleven people were in a Taquan Air single-engine de Havilland Otter DHC-3 when it went down as it returned from Misty Fjords National Monument, which is part of the Tongass National Forest, Rios said.
The coast guard said three of those who died were among five aboard the second plane, a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver.
It’s unclear which plane carried the fourth victim, whose body was recovered during a Monday night search, Rios said.
Global Affairs Canada said in an email that Canadian consular officials in Seattle are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information and stand ready to provide assistance as required.
A spokeswoman for Princess Cruises said Tuesday that the company was working on an overnight rescue and recovery update from the coast guard and would provide an update as soon as possible.
