It appears that there has been a fatal, 5 dead, in Alaska. From Yahoo.com:
“The Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed soon after take off at 1:48 p.m. in shallow waters, according to the Coast Guard.”
“The plane was headed to Homer, a quick flight north, on the Kenai Peninsula, according to Kodiak radio station KMXT.”
“The aircraft is owned and operated by Servant Air, a local company that serves half a dozen communities on the large island in south-central Alaska, 225 miles southwest of Anchorage. The flight service started in 2003 as a one-plane operation and has grown to a fleet of seven small aircraft.”
Servant Air (Kodiak) yesterday (January 5) lost its Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain N509FN (msn 31-7952162) in a tragic accident at Kodiak Island in Alaska. The aircraft was taking off from Kodiak headed to Homer on the mainland. Minutes after taking off the pilot radioed the tower he was having an undisclosed problem and was returning. Unfortunately the aircraft dived into the shallow but frigid water off the island. Six of the 10 passengers and crew on board died in the accident. The company was started in the spring of 2003 as Paklook Air with a single Cessna 207 for charters. The original owners of Paklook Air acquired Servant Air then based in Fairbanks. It was moved to Kodiak island in order to serve the communities on the large island with scheduled service. Previous to the accident it operated seven aircraft and served six communities on Kodiak.
