Piper PA-24 crash off Alaska coast kills all four aboard

A Piper PA-24-260 Comanche crashed into the water off the coast of Alaska, killing all four people aboard, state troopers said. The aircraft had left Merrill Field Airport in Anchorage bound for Seldovia, a community on the Kenai Peninsula roughly 136 miles southwest of the city.

Troopers said the plane submerged completely after the crash. They were alerted to the incident at around 1:18 p.m. local time and sent personnel by helicopter and marine vessel from Anchorage.

Crews recovered the bodies of all four occupants later that day. The pilot was identified as 68-year-old Eric Middlebrook of Anchorage. The three passengers were from California: Ronald Schmidt, 65, Lance Schmidt, 20, and Daniel Simons, 82.

A regional official with the National Transportation Safety Board said the wreckage came to rest in 13 to 17 feet of water. People at the scene tried to reach those inside the aircraft but could not before it went under.

The NTSB is expected to carry out a full investigation into the cause of the crash.

It was the second fatal crash reported in Alaska within a week. Days earlier, a chartered Cessna 441 carrying personnel for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crashed in a remote area while flying in foggy conditions. Both pilots and six passengers were killed.