ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Latest on the midair collision of two sightseeing floatplanes in Alaska that killed six people and injured 10 (all times local):
4:50 p.m.
Federal accident investigators say responders have begun to recover the wreckage of two flightseeing planes carrying cruise ship passengers that were involved in a deadly midair collision near the southeast Alaska town of Ketchikan.
National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy said Wednesday that the larger of the floatplanes was recovered and put on a barge to be transported to Ketchikan. The NTSB has a team of investigators from Washington, D.C., at the scene.
Homendy says the recovery of the smaller plane has begun and will take longer because of the large debris field from that aircraft.
The floatplanes carrying cruise ship tourists collided Monday, killing six people. Ten others were rescued.
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5:55 a.m.
Officials have identified the six people who died in a midair collision of two sightseeing planes in Alaska on Monday near the cruise ship port community of Ketchikan.
Alaska State Troopers in a statement late Tuesday said four were American, one was Australian and one was Canadian.
The cruise ship passenger victims who went on the flight excursions were identified as 46-year-old Louis Botha of San Diego, 56-year-old Simon Brodie from Temple, New South Wales, Australia, 62-year-old Cassandra Webb from St. Louis, 39-year-old Ryan Wilk from Utah and 37-year-old Elsa Wilk of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Also killed was the pilot of one of the planes, 46-year-old Randy Sullivan of Ketchikan
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash that also injured 10 people.
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12 a.m.
Two sightseeing planes that crashed in southeast Alaska collided at about the 3,300-foot (1,005-meter) level.
That was among the first findings released Tuesday by federal investigators sent to the cruise ship port community of Ketchikan from Washington, D.C., to probe the crash that killed six people and injured 10 Monday.
The 14 passengers were all from the same cruise ship, the Royal Princess. Ten were on one plane that had descended from 3,800 feet (1,158 meters) and collided with a smaller plane as both were returning to Ketchikan.
The investigation could take months, but the NTSB typically issues a preliminary report within two weeks.
Officials said the last two missing passengers were from Canada and Australia.
The Coast Guard said two bodies were recovered Tuesday near the crash site of the smaller plane involved in the collision.
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