Plane Carrying 10 Crashes In Alaska, Several Feared Dead

Stock image of a twin-engine De Havilland Otter seaplane, similar to the plane reported crashed in Alaska.

Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty Images

A float plane carrying 10 people crashed near a remote airport in Alaska early Tuesday, with three passengers feared dead, authorities told local media.

Five survivors were being flown to Anchorage for treatment after the plane crashed about 300 yards from Iliamna airport near East Wind Lake, said Edward Eagerton, a staff sergeant with the Alaska Air National Guard, to local NBC affiliate KTUU-TV.

Two other survivors did not require airlift for treatment.

The DeHavilland DHC-3T Turbine Otter was first reported to troopers as going down just before 6:30 a.m. in Dillingham, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.

Nearby residents recalled running out to the lakeside forest in the pre-dawn hours with flashlights and other equipment to assist with the initial search about 300 yards from the runway.

A map show the approximate location of the plane crash.

Google Maps

"We went out and turned all our car lights on, and a few minutes later we could see the light from the plane wing," Anelon said. "You could see the wing straight up in the air from here, this morning," Myrtle Anelon told Alaska Dispatch News. "People from all over the lake came and helped."

The regional office for the National Transportation and Safety Board in Alaska, which investigates plane crashes in the area, could not immediately be reached for comment.

LINK: Crews Begin Recovery Of 9 Killed In Remote Alaska Plane Crash

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