KETCHIKAN - According to a press release from the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, a floatplane crashed in Metlakatla harbor Monday afternoon, killing both the pilot and another passenger on board. Taquan Air Flight 20 crashed while landing in the harbor around 4 p.m. Monday, May 20. According to the press release, witness statements say the plane flipped on impact. A seine boat was the first one on the scene, according to a police report from the Metlakatla Police Department, good Samaritans aboard the F/V Lady Liv attempted to rescue the two victims from the crash. The Metlakatla Volunteer Fire Department, the police, the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad, the Coast Guard, and two Guardian Flight medics sent by Taquan Air responded to the scene.
The police department’s press release states that the victims were freed from the plane within twenty minutes of the police being notified of the crash. Pilot Ron Rash, 51-years-old, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and passenger Sarah Luna, 31, of Anchorage were declared deceased at the Annette Island Service Unit. The Ketchikan Gateway Borough said that a National Transportation Safety Board investigator and two FAA officials are beginning an investigation into the crash.
This is the second fatal plane crash to occur in the area within a week.
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