Searchers find bodies of 2 who died when boat overturned near Sitka

Using an unmanned underwater drone to search a boat that had overturned near Chichagof Island, searchers on Jan. 10 located the bodies of two people who were missing after three others were rescued from the Jan. 9 accident.

The three who survived were hoisted from the water within about an hour from the time Sitka Police Department received a digital GPS distress alert at 4:35 p.m. Jan. 9. Police immediately notified Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, and within 14 minutes a rescue helicopter was on the way to the accident site, in waters off the Khaz Peninsula 40 northwest miles north of Sitka.

The flight crew had been preparing for a training flight, so was ready to take off and “pivoted to a rescue mission,” said Capt. Vincent Jansen, the commanding officer of the Air Station. The Coast Guard estimated the helicopter arrived on scene at 5:15 p.m. and had rescued the three by 5:50 p.m. The Coast Guard reported seas at 9 feet.

The names of those who survived or died in the accident had not been released by Monday morning, Jan. 15, by the Alaska State Troopers, who are the lead investigators in the accident.

The Coast Guard said conditions were too rough to recover the two bodies on Jan. 11 and 12, with seas at 10 to 12 feet, and winds at 30 to 40 knots at the location of the overturned 26-foot aluminum boat, adrift 22 nautical miles offshore of Chichagof Island.

The crew of a Coast Guard cutter attached a transponder to the capsized boat to keep track of the vessel while the cutter waited out the weather, the Coast Guard said.

Other responders in the case include the Coast Guard Cutter Kukui, a C-130 fixed wing plane from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, the Sitka Fire Department and Alaska Wildlife Troopers.

The Sitka Fire Department dive team and troopers arrived at the rescue site on Jan. 10 to deploy an unmanned underwater camera drone to search the cabin of the overturned boat and confirmed that the bodies of the two missing individuals were inside.

Recovery operations will start once on-scene conditions improve.

The name and type of the vessel had not been released as of Jan. 15. The three survivors were brought to Sitka after their rescue and taken to the hospital. Authorities have not released information about their condition.