An Alaska Seaplanes aircraft was damaged Sunday morning after a wreck during takeoff near Elfin Cove.
No one was injured and flight operations resumed on Sunday afternoon, said marketing manager Andy Kline, but the cause of the accident is still being investigated.
“We really don’t know yet — that’s something we have to assess and will be working with investigators to try to find out,” Kline stated in an email.
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No one was injured, Kline said, but the aircraft, a Cessna 208A- Amphibious was significantly damaged as it ended up on shoreline.
“(There’s) a lot of damage to the floats, the fuselage seems intact but we will need to do a lot of examination of it,” Kline said. “We are currently recovering the plane so we haven’t been able to fully assess damage.”
The flight, a regularly scheduled run, had been delayed by early-morning fog but conditions had cleared, Kline said.
“The weather was fine,” Kline said. “Fog had cleared and the wind and sea conditions were fine.”
Seaplanes immediately suspended all flight operations following the accident, Kline said.
“When this accident occurred yesterday, we immediately ceased all operations until we could meet with each pilot, our safety crew and our dispatch crew to determine that this was an isolated incident without the possibility that it was something that could affect other planes in our fleet,” Kline said. “Once that was determined, we started back with normal operations, at about 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon.”
The internal investigation into the accident has just gotten underway, Kline said, and it’s too early to say if there will be changes in Seaplanes’ flight operations.
“We have initiated our emergency response plan, which includes assessment and remediation moving forward. The investigation of this is just starting, so it would be speculative and premature to suggest any changes yet.”
• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at (757) 621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.
