Authorities are investigating the crash of a small float plane in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve over the weekend that sent all four occupants, including the pilot, to the hospital.
The small float plane, a Cessna 180J, “crash landed” at about 2:30 p.m. local time on July 5 near Brooks Camp within Katmai National Park, according to the National Park Service. Four occupants, including the pilot, were transported to an Anchorage area hospital with non-critical injuries, the park service said.
Katmai National Park, a campground popular during the peak brown bear viewing season, is only accessible via small plane.
National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska Chief Clint Johnson told Anchorage Daily News the agency was alerted of a crash “with four people on board reporting serious injuries,” with park officials dispatching a helicopter from Anchorage to conduct the rescue.
The aircraft, which can seat up to five passengers and a pilot, is privately owned, according to the Alaskan newspaper.
As of July 7, the cause of the crash is unknown. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation, Alaska’s News Source reported.
The FAA and NTSB did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
Katmai National Park and Preserve is set along the northern Alaska Peninsula, most famously known for its fat bears and unique ecosystem. As one of the most remote national parks in the U.S., Katmai has no roads connecting it to the rest of Alaska, requiring travelers to take either a water taxi or float plane.
String of small plane crashes
The incident over the holiday weekend was the latest in a recent string of crashes involving small planes, many of which were fatal.
In late June, a twin-engine Cessna 441 went down in the backyard of a home in Ohio, killing all six people onboard. Earlier in the month, six people died when a twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed offshore San Diego just minutes after takeoff.
In North Carolina, a small aircraft, a Universal Stinson 108 plane, crashed in Farmington as the pilot tried to avoid a turtle on the runway just before the crash. The pilot and a passenger were killed while another passenger was seriously injured.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci and Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Small plane crashed in remote park in Alaska: National Park Service
