Coast Guard rescues survivors after plane crashes off Alaska

Coast Guard sent an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to the site of the crash and rescued two people

Photo of the crash site on Montague Island in Alaska shared by the US Coast Guard (US Coast Guard / Twitter)

The US Coast Guard rescued two people from Alaska on Tuesday after their plane crashed at the Montague Island, according to reports.

The two people were reported to have no injuries and were in a stable condition after the rescue.

The US Coast Guard sent an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from the Air Station Kodiak in Alaska and arrived at the scene at 6.46pm.

KINY Radio reported that the cause of the crash is under investigation.

The Coast Guard received a report at 4.15pm from a friend of the pilot that a P-18 Super Cub aircraft — with two people aboard — had crashed just above the high tide line at Montague Island.

“The quick response by the aircrew in Cordova helped these two get the help they needed,” Katie Brown, sector Anchorage command duty officer said. “It’s incredible these two people made it out okay, and the fact that they had communication equipment readily available really aided in our response time.”

The two survivors of the crash were communicating with the satellite communication device InReach, the Coast Guard said.

Last month, a video clip shared by the USCG Southeast on Twitter showed Coast Guard saving people on a boat that was hit by lightning strikes.

Meanwhile, Juneau Empire, an Alaskan news website reported on 6 July that the Coast Guard air and vessel crews had had a busy weekend last week “rescuing people from medical emergencies, sinking ships and crashing planes across the state.”

Coast Guard District 17 SAR specialist Paul Webb was quoted as saying that “we are on track to have about the same number of SAR [search and rescue] incidents as last year.” He added that in 2021 the Coast Guard responded to 557 incidents. “Types of cases may vary year to year but this is a typical year.”