Trip Was Part Of Alaskan Cruise

Four Sun Princess cruise ship passengers on a sightseeing tour as part of an Alaskan cruise were killed Tuesday when their plane went down in a mountainous area of southeast Alaska.

The pilot perished as well, according to CNN.

The group was on the second day of a week-long cruise from Seattle, WA, according to a Princess Cruises spokesperson Julie Benson. 

"We are devastated to report that our passengers and the plane's pilot perished in the accident," she said. "Our shoreside care team is doing everything possible to help their families through this difficult tragedy, and we share in their grief."

Joseph H. Campbell, the pilot of the DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver (file photo of type shown above) operated by tour company Taquan Air, reportedly put out a distress signal late Tuesday. When the aircraft did not return to its base, "rescue helicopters were dispatched to the location of the flight seeing route," Benson said, which was in the area of Misty Fjords National Monument, south of Juneau near Ketchikan.

"These helicopters subsequently spotted the float plane which ... crashed in rugged terrain," she said.
 
Princess Cruises has since cancelled all tours with Taquan Air.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 995WA        Make/Model: DHC2      Description: DHC-2 Mk1 Beaver (U-6, L-20)
  Date: 07/24/2007     Time: 2200

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Unknown

LOCATION
  City: KETCHIKAN   State: AK   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  N995WA, A DEHAVILLAND DHC-2MK AIRCRAFT, OPERATED BY TAQUAN AIR, CRASHED
  UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE FIVE PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY
  INJURED, APPROXIMATELY 30 MILES EAST OF KETCHIKAN, AK

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   5
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   4     Fat:   4     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: JUNEAU, AK  (AL05)                    Entry date: 07/25/2007

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.princess.com, www.taquanair.com