Four people died in a plane crash in the Kenai Peninsula community of Seldovia Wednesday, state troopers say.
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Troopers were alerted to the crash at around 1:18 p.m., according to a dispatch. A Piper PA-24 was heading to Seldovia from Merrill Field in Anchorage when it crashed and sank in the Seldovia Slough, troopers said.
Officials said troopers were able to recover the victims’ bodies from the wreckage at about 6:30 p.m. after the tide had fallen. Pilot Eric Middlebrook, 68, of Anchorage was found dead with three passengers from California — Ronald Schmidt, 65, Lance Schmidt, 20, and Daniel Simons, 82.
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It’s not clear what caused the crash. Troopers say the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
This is the second fatal plane crash in Alaska in less than a week. On Aug. 20, a charter plane carrying eight people crashed in the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site in Southwest Alaska during a second landing attempt. All eight people died in the crash.
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