Four people, including three California residents, died after a small plane crashed into shallow water near a remote coastal community in Alaska.
Alaska State Troopers identified the victims as pilot Eric Middlebrook, 68, of Anchorage, along with three Bay Area passengers: Ronald Schmidt, 65, and Lance Schmidt, 20, both from San Jose, and Daniel Simons, 82, of Los Gatos.
The Piper PA-24 departed Merrill Field Airport in Anchorage and was headed for Seldovia, a remote town roughly 135 miles to the southwest, when it crashed in the Seldovia Slough at about 1:18 p.m. local time Wednesday. Authorities said the aircraft ended up submerged in approximately 15 feet of water close to shore.
Middlebrook, a longtime Alaska aviator and former mayor of Bethel, was known for flying refrigeration equipment into remote villages across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. He had spent decades in Alaska but was originally from Northern California.
Troopers were forced to wait for the tide to go out before reaching the wreckage and recovering the four bodies from inside the plane. The remains were sent to the Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsies.
Video that surfaced after the crash showed the aircraft underwater in the slough and captured later recovery operations, including a helicopter hoisting the wreckage from the water the next day.
Witnesses reported hearing the plane moments before watching it fall, with one describing a terrifying scene afterward as bystanders questioned whether anyone trapped inside might still be alive.
The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating what caused the Alaska plane crash. Early information suggests the pilot may have been trying to abort a landing or climb out when the aircraft hit trees and then plunged into the water.
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan called the crash “heartbreaking and unacceptable,” noting that aviation safety remains a top priority in the state.
The crash comes less than a week after another fatal plane accident in western Alaska killed eight people.
