Six cruise ship passengers who were on a shore excursion to the Misty Fjords swam to safety on Sunday after the floatplane they were flying on crashed during takeoff the Miami Herald is reporting.
The floatplane was taking off from Big Goat Lake at the time of the crash. The six cruise passengers and pilot swam to shore while the plane sank to the bottom of the lake.
The seven individuals were treated for minor injuries and taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
The incident took place about 25 miles east of Ketchikan in Alaska’s Misty Fjords National Monument. While the cause of the crash is still unknown, an NTSB spokesman said that a wing on the De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver struck the water.
Two of the cruise passengers are from Germany and four from California.
Officials did not state which cruise ship the passengers on. Port schedules show that there were three ships in Ketchikan on Sunday.
Excursions to the Misty Fjords are among the most popular shore excursions in Ketchikan.
