Aviation

Plane with 6 aboard crashes in Lake Clark National Park, injuring at least 1

A plane carrying six people crashed in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve on Monday, leaving one person injured seriously enough to require transport to a hospital, according to National Park Service officials.

The pilot of the float-equipped de Havilland Beaver plane reported a loss of engine power shortly after taking off from Kijik Lake around 4:30 p.m. and crashed, said Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska office.

An Alaska Air National Guard helicopter rescued the group near the site of the crash, Lake Clark officials said in a statement. At least one person was brought to an Anchorage hospital for injuries Johnson described as not life-threatening.

The flight was operated by Soldotna-based Talon Air Service, which offers flightseeing, bear viewing, fishing and hunting trips, according to the company website. Johnson said it was not immediately clear what the plane was doing in the park Monday or where it was headed.

A park service search and rescue team also responded to the crash, the statement said.

The NTSB is working with the air service and its insurance company to recover the wreckage, Johnson said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

[Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported what time the plane crashed.]

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