On Father’s Day, Sunday, June 19, 2016, an Alaska Seaplane Tours De Havilland DHC-2 crashed in Misty Fjords National Monument on Big Goat Lake, located approximately 25 air miles east of Ketchikan, Alaska.
The seaplane was damaged and quickly sunk. All six cruise ship passengers were able to swim ashore and were rescued.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were notified and an investigation is pending into the cause of the accident.
Germans Tim Friedrich, 40 and Catrin Fredrich, 36 were aboard with Californians Robert Grover, 63, Debra Grover, 60, Nicole Grover, 30, and Jonathan James, 36.
There were three cruise ships in port that day, Radiance of the Seas, Carnival Legend and Celebrity Solstice. The cruise ship has not been named at this time.
Almost exactly two years ago today, on June 25, 2015, a case we call The Westerdam Eight, cost the lives of eight cruise ship passengers. In that case, all passengers were found dead after a Holland America Line Westerdam excursion plane, a DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter small float plane crashed about 20 miles from Ketchikan, Alaska, during a Father’s Day celebration Alaskan cruise.
