Home / Disasters and Accidents / Bay Area Trio Dies in Remote Alaska Plane Crash
Bay Area Trio Dies in Remote Alaska Plane Crash
30 Aug
Summary
- Three Bay Area residents died in an Alaska plane crash.
- The pilot, a former Alaskan mayor, also perished.
- The plane submerged after crashing into the water.
Three residents from the Bay Area were killed this week in a small plane crash in Alaska. The victims, identified as Lance Schmidt and Ronald Schmidt of San Jose, and Daniel Simons of Los Gatos, were traveling with pilot Eric Middlebrook. Middlebrook, a former mayor of Bethel, Alaska, also died in the incident.
The plane was en route to Sledovia from Merrill Field Airport in Anchorage when it crashed into the water and became fully submerged. Authorities were notified of the crash in the afternoon but were unable to retrieve the bodies until later that evening when the tide receded.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
