5/13/19 Alaska Princess Cruise floatplane excursion has mid-air collision with another floatplane

[heidica]

I live near Seattle and the news is breaking that 2 floatplanes have had a mid-air collision near Ketchikan. One plane had 10 guest plus a pilot on an official Princess cruise excursion, the other plane had 4 guests also from Princess on a private excursion, plus a pilot. All 5 on the 2nd plane have died. Local ABC news is reporting some survivors on the other plane are being transported to the trauma hospital in Seattle, Harborview. Details are still coming in. Very sad news.

Here is some information from KOMO news website:
Princess Cruises sent KOMO News this statement:

On Monday, May 13, 2019, at 1:08 p.m. local time, a small float plane operated by Taquan Air that was flying a shore excursion sold through Princess Cruises was involved in an accident approximately eight (8) nautical miles from Ketchikan, AK. The flight was returning from a Misty Fjords tour and carried ten guests from Royal Princess and a pilot. A second float plane was also involved in an incident and was carrying four guests from Royal Princess on an independent tour.

The U.S. Coast Guard and local search and rescue teams have confirmed that nine (9) of the guests on the Taquan Air plane have been rescued and are receiving medical attention with the condition of one (1) guest still unknown. It has also been confirmed there are five (5) fatalities from the independent air tour - four (4) Royal Princess guests and one (1) pilot. Princess Cruises has activated members of its Care Team to provide assistance to the families impacted by today’s accident.

We are deeply saddened to report this news and our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives and the families of those impacted by today’s accident. Princess Cruises is extending its full support to traveling companions of the guests involved.

Royal Princess is sailing a seven-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise that departed Vancouver on May 11 and is scheduled to arrive in Anchorage on Saturday, May 18.

 

[Intr3pid]

Such a tragedy. A vacation turned into a funeral.

This is exactly why we shied away from the floatplane excursions last year in Alaska. There is an accident pretty much every year or so, and the sheer influx of cruise passengers means it's not going to get any better.

 

[pixiedustedme]

That is tragic and sobering. We did a float plane excursion in Ketchikan through Island Wings last June. I knew that float planes had safety issues, but felt good about Island Wings because they always use the same pilot, who owns the company and has decades of experience.

May God bless the killed and hurt, and their loved ones.

 

[bcwife76]

It's all over our news here as well since we are just outside of Vancouver and that is where the cruise originated on Saturday, such a horrific tragedy I have a fear of flying so I could never get into a floatplane or helicopter anyway, but admire those that would do such an amazing excursion. It breaks your heart

 

[a1tinkfans]

Awful tragedy.
Any indication on how this happened ?
Are they thinking weather or pilot or mechanical error??

 

[ladyofthetramp]

It's all over our news here as well since we are just outside of Vancouver and that is where the cruise originated on Saturday, such a horrific tragedy I have a fear of flying so I could never get into a floatplane or helicopter anyway, but admire those that would do such an amazing excursion. It breaks your heart

ah... this is me as well. I don't like flying period, but tough it out to get where I want to be. So sad for these people. It does break your heart.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

Awful tragedy.
Any indication on how this happened ?
Are they thinking weather or pilot or mechanical error??

Almost certainly pilot error. These tours don't fly if the weather is bad enough to impair visibility to a point that aviation is unsafe.

A mechanical failure is remotely possible, I suppose.

 

[anjuan]

We'll be on our Alaska cruise in two weeks. At this point I'm glad that we didn't book one of the float plane tours or I may be second-guessing it.

 

[lorimay]

Saw this on The Today show, how awful.

 

[Pens Fan]

This is so awful. We've taken two float plane tours in Alaska and they were incredible experiences. Prayers to the families involved - what a tragedy.

 

[darnheather]

This is so terrible. I know that large commercial jets don't normally get anywhere close enough to crash like this. Are there so many in the air at once that it is a hazard?

 

[KashasMom]

Such a tragedy. We've been on 3 excursions with Island Wings including the Misty Fjord Sightseeing. We've never seen planes remotely close enough to collide. I can't imagine how this happened but have not seen enough details. If weather is an issue they usually don't fly. Prayers to the families.

 

[ckelly14]

This is so terrible. I know that large commercial jets don't normally get anywhere close enough to crash like this. Are there so many in the air at once that it is a hazard?

Large Jet airliners and other commercial flights have a different set of rules; the spacing between flights is determined by air traffic control. For most other general aviation flights, including small excursion planes, the pilot is the one responsible to identify and avoid other traffic. Although there are rules that help avoid collision and help with spacing, these things happen with general aviation. This is especially true outside of controlled airspace (which would be the case 8 miles from Ketchikan.

 

[kj2mom]

This is so terrible. I know that large commercial jets don't normally get anywhere close enough to crash like this. Are there so many in the air at once that it is a hazard?

So sad and tragic! Lately I have been watching Juneau on PTZTV quite a bit and the planes do seem to come quickly one right after the other (like right now two landed while I was typing this post). I am not sure exactly how close that is in sky space but they couldn't have been too far away if they both landed within such a short period of time of each other. My heart breaks, especially since I have gotten so addicted to watching them these last couple of weeks.

 

[tankin]

Small planes like this in AK normally operate under VFR or visual flight rules. The key tenant of VFR is see and avoid (ie look outside and don't hit the other airplane). ATC isn't directing planes (like they do the big boys under VFR) and in general unless they are operating close to an airfield or seaplane base, they aren't talking on the radio (there are some exceptions to this where local VFR rules are in effect like near the Grand Canyon).

It will be interesting to see what the NTSB says is the root cause of the accident... Horrible accident..

 

[anjuan]

I’m on another social media site for our cruise leaving in less than 2 weeks. Someone in concierge contacted DCL about canceling their float plane excursion and they were told that DCL is canceling all plane excursions in Ketchikan for our cruise.

 

[heidica]

I’m on another social media site for our cruise leaving in less than 2 weeks. Someone in concierge contacted DCL about canceling their float plane excursion and they were told that DCL is canceling all plane excursions in Ketchikan for our cruise.

One of my initial thoughts was wondering how this tragedy would affect future floatplane excursions. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bumbershoot]

This is so sad.

I could never get into a floatplane or helicopter anyway, but admire those that would do such an amazing excursion.

Same.

 

[Kennywood]

I’m on another social media site for our cruise leaving in less than 2 weeks. Someone in concierge contacted DCL about canceling their float plane excursion and they were told that DCL is canceling all plane excursions in Ketchikan for our cruise.

For which sailing? We're on the May 20th cruise and we have the float plane excursion booked for next Saturday. I called DCL this morning about it and they said that the excursion was still scheduled to occur. They did say, though, that if it did change, I'd be notified by email.

 

[anjuan]

For which sailing? We're on the May 20th cruise and we have the float plane excursion booked for next Saturday. I called DCL this morning about it and they said that the excursion was still scheduled to occur. They did say, though, that if it did change, I'd be notified by email.

I'm on the May 27 sailing. It's possible that it was just the excursion that they were on or something like that. I didn't state it above but it was their concierge contact that told them and not the main DCL customer service line.