Alaska State Troopers say all those on board two small planes died in a midair collision in the western part of the state.

Troopers did not say how many people were in the two aircraft, but the Alaska National Guard said earlier that there were a total of five on board the planes.

Troopers say the crash occurred northwest of the village of Russian Mission. Troopers say responders at the scene have confirmed there were no survivors on either of the planes.

Alaska National Guard officials say the collision occurred just before 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Officials say the planes involved in the crash are a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro's Alaskan Adventures Piper PA-18 super cub with two people aboard. Representatives of Hageland, which is operated by Ravn, Alaska, did not immediately respond with comment. A Renfro employee said the company was not immediately releasing information.</s>Five people have been killed after two planes collided in mid-air over Alaska, authorities said.

The crash happened at around 11am local time (7pm UK) about 60 miles north of the city of Bethel.

The two small planes involved were a Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Piper PA-18 Super Cub carrying two individuals.

All of those on board both aircraft were killed, Alaska National Guard spokeswoman Candis Olmstead said.
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The Cessna belonged to Hageland Aviation Services, a regional airline, and the Piper was operated by Renfro's Alaskan Adventures, she added.

Renfro's offers wilderness hunting and fishing trips out of Bethel, according to its website.

Alaska is a sparsely populated US state more than twice the size of Texas, and residents in remote areas rely on small planes for travel, recreation and mail delivery.

Alaska State Troopers said rescue workers searching the crash site found no survivors aboard either aircraft, and said an investigation was continuing.
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Olmstead said the crash occurred about 6 miles northwest of Russian Mission, a remote community in the southwest of the state along the Yukon River.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, authorities said.

Neither Hageland nor Renfro's immediately responded to requests for comment.

An Alaska Army National Guard helicopter ferrying medics have arrived at the crash site, Olmstead said.</s>The crash happened around 11 a.m. local time about 60 miles north of the city of Bethel, Alaska National Guard spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Candis Olmstead said in a statement. It was not immediately clear if anyone survived.

"The aircraft involved were a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan with three individuals on board and a Renfro's Alaska Adventures Piper PA-18 Super Cub with two individuals on board," Olmstead said.

Olmstead said the crash occurred about 6 miles northwest of Russian Mission, a remote community in the southwest of the state along the Yukon River.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Hageland did not immediately respond to a request for information.

An Alaska Army National Guard helicopter ferrying medics was arriving at the crash site, Olmstead said. Alaska State Troopers were also en route.</s>Two small planes collided in the air over a remote area of western Alaska, killing all five people on board.

State troopers said the crash occurred northwest of the village of Russian Mission, 375 miles west of Anchorage, at about 11am on Wednesday.

The crash scene covers a large area that is accessible only by helicopter, said Clint Johnson, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska division, and the cause is being investigated.

Troopers said responders at the scene confirmed there were no survivors on either of the planes.

The troopers didn't give an exact number, but the Alaska National Guard said earlier that there were a total of five on board the planes.

The collision occurred just before 11am, Guard officials said.

Johnson said an initial report was about a possible plane crash involving a Piper PA-18 in the area of Russian Mission, followed shortly after that with another report of another, separate plane that was overdue.

'And then subsequently, shortly after that, is when we started putting two and two together as far as a possible midair,' he said.

The planes involved in the crash are a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro's Alaskan Adventures Piper PA-18 super cub with two people aboard, according to the Guard.

A Guard helicopter with medics on board left Bethel around noon to head to the crash site.

Representatives of Hageland, which is operated by Ravn, Alaska, did not immediately respond with comment.

A Renfro employee said the company was not immediately releasing information.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were headed to the crash scene Wednesday afternoon, Johnson said.</s>It's not known why the midair crash happened about 376 miles west of Anchorage, said Allen Kenitzer, with the Federal Aviation Administration office of communications. He said the crash happened under "unknown circumstances."

The collision involved a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro's Alaska Adventures Piper PA-18 Super Cub with two people inside, said Candis A. Olmstead, director of public affairs for the Alaska National Guard.

An aviation company contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at 11 a.m. and said they had lost radio contact with an aircraft and that it was overdue, she said.

About 15 minutes later, the Alaska State Troopers contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center to report a second aircraft was overdue, Olmstead said.

Later in the day, an aircraft spotted wreckage of the two planes on the ground near Russian Mission, she said. Russian Village is a Yup'ik Eskimo village along the Yukon River, about 376 miles west of Anchorage, according to a website for a school in the area. The crash occurred in an area of rolling hills and heavy vegetation with an elevation between 600 to 800 feet. Skies were clear and temperatures were around 63 degrees, she said. An Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from the 207th Aviation Battalion, based out of Bethel, left about noon and flew to the scene, Olmstead said. Names of the people on board have not been released. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.</s>The Latest: Troopers say no survivors in Alaska midair crash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Latest on a midair collision in Alaska (all times local):

Alaska State Troopers say all those on board two small planes died in a midair collision in the western part of the state.

Troopers did not say how many people were in the two aircraft, but the Alaska National Guard said earlier that there were a total of five on board the planes.

Troopers say the crash occurred northwest of the village of Russian Mission. Troopers say responders at the scene have confirmed there were no survivors on either of the planes.

Alaska National Guard officials say the collision occurred just before 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Officials say the planes involved in the crash are a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro's Alaskan Adventures Piper PA-18 super cub with two people aboard. Representatives of Hageland, which is operated by Ravn, Alaska, did not immediately respond with comment. A Renfro employee said the company was not immediately releasing information.

Searchers are responding to a midair collision of two small commercial airplanes carrying a total of five people in western Alaska.

Alaska National Guard officials say the collision occurred 60 miles north of Bethel just before 11 a.m. Wednesday. There's no immediate word on casualties.

Officials say the planes involved in the crash are a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro's Alaskan Adventures Piper PA-18 super cub with two people aboard.

A Guard helicopter with medics on board left Bethel around noon to head to the crash site.

Alaska State Troopers also are involved in the response.</s>ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Searchers are responding to a midair collision of two small commercial airplanes carrying a total of five people in western Alaska.

Alaska National Guard officials say the collision occurred 60 miles north of Bethel just before 11 a.m. Wednesday. There is no immediate word on casualties.

Officials say the planes involved in the crash are a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro’s Alaskan Adventures Piper PA-18 super cub with two people aboard.

A Guard helicopter with medics on board left Bethel around noon to head to the crash site.

Alaska State Troopers also are involved in the response.</s>ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Authorities have released the names of four Alaskans and a Montana man who were killed in a midair collision of two small planes in western Alaska as responders said Thursday that rough terrain is complicating efforts to recover the bodies.

On one plane, pilot Harry Wrase, 48, of Wasilla and his passengers, Steven Paul Andrew, 32, of Kenai, and Aaron Jay Minock, 21, of Russian Mission, were killed in the Wednesday morning crash.

In the other plane, pilot Zach Justin Babat, 44, of Montana and his passenger, Jeff Thomas Burruss, 40, of Haines, were killed. A hometown for Babat was not immediately disclosed.

Wrase was flying a Ravn Alaska Cessna 208 Caravan from Russian Mission to the nearby village of Marshall, troopers said. Babat was piloting a Renfro’s Alaskan Adventures Piper Super Cub and heading for a hunting camp.

There were no survivors in the crash 6 miles northwest of the village of Russian Mission, 375 miles west of Anchorage. Troopers were heading to the scene Thursday to recover the bodies, agency spokesman Megan Peters said.

Rough terrain and the technically complicated nature of midair collisions are making the investigative response and recovery of the bodies difficult, said Clint Johnson, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska division.

The plane wreckages are about half a mile apart at the crash scene, which covers an area accessible only by helicopter, Johnson said. A National Transportation Safety Board investigative team and troopers reached the scene late Wednesday afternoon, landing a quarter-mile from the Cessna, then hiking through woods thick with alder trees. There was no time for troopers to recover the victims Wednesday before responders had to depart before night fell, Johnson said.

“This is a very challenging area for what we need to do,” he said, adding that the safety board investigators were heading out again Thursday.
At least five people are killed after two small planes collide near Russian Mission, Alaska. Officials from the Alaska Army National Guard say the planes involved were a Cessna 208 Caravan and a Piper PA-18 Super Cub.