Woman who ‘finally’ made trip of a lifetime among six killed in Alaska crash

Cruise passengers on a sightseeing tour and their pilot were identified as the six killed in a plane crash near Alaska’s Misty Fjords National Monument.

The victims included a 77-year-old retiree who “finally made it” to Alaska, a couple from Napa Valley, and a mother and daughter on a “girls’ trip” before the start of college.

Pilot Rolf Lanzendorfer, 64, of Cle Elum, Washington, flew all five passengers on an excursion from the Holland America Line cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam before the small plane went down about 12 miles northeast of Ketchikan.

Fog and reduced visibility delayed investigators’ efforts to retrieve the wreckage after rescue crews recovered and identified the victims, Mark Henderson, 69, and Jacquelyn Komplin, 60, both of Napa, California; Andrea McArthur, 55, and Rachel McArthur, 20, both of Woodstock, Georgia; and Janet Kroll, 77, of Mount Prospect, Illinois.

Mr Henderson was a retired public defender while Ms Komplin was a registered nurse and instructor at Pacific Union College, according to the Napa Valley Register.

Mr Henderson’s sister, Kathleen Grayson, told the Register that they both sent messages during the trip that they were “having so much fun” on the trip while “talking about how gorgeous” it was in Alaska.

Ms Komplin coordinated a wellness programme for Meals on Wheels for Community Action of Napa Valley, the group’s executive director, Drene Johnson, told The Associated Press. She said Ms Komplin was “one of a kind” and was excited about the trip.

“We were all wishing her well, and that’s what’s so hard for us to comprehend is, now she’s gone,” she said.

Ms McArthur, a flight attendant with Delta, and daughter Rachel were on a “girls’ trip” before the start of college, Davis McCarthur said of his mother and sister.

He said his mother had a “heart of gold” and his sister was independent, strong and “always wanting to help out”.

Just days before the crash, Ms Kroll posted to Facebook that she “finally made it to Alaska! Hooray!”, followed by a picture in front of Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau.

Mr Lanzendorfer, the pilot, had flown commercial floatplanes for more than 40 years and was described by Clyde Carlson, founder of Washington-based Northwest Seaplanes, as “an excellent pilot”, The Seattle Times reported.

His LinkedIn profile showed that he worked for Southeast Aviation since May 2015, but airline spokesperson Bri Kelly directed questions about the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB’s Alaska region chief, Clint Johnson, said that Mr Lanzendorfer was involved in a 9 July incident where a Southeast Aviation plane hit an inlet buoy on departure near Coffman Cove and flipped.

He added that the earlier accident, in which he was the only onboard and there were no injuries, is just “a piece of information that [investigators are] putting on the pile” as they probe the cause of the crash.

The US Coast Guard said the plane’s emergency beacon was activated when it crashed near the Misty Fjords National Monument about 11.20 local time on Thursday, 5 August.

Alaska State Troopers and members of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad chartered a helicopter to reach the crash site on made it to the crash site by Saturday afternoon, with the bodies taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.