A small airplane crashed Sunday morning at an airport in Alaska, killing the pilot and nine passengers. A team from the NTSB is expected to arrive this afternoon to investigate. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
By Andrew Rafferty and Henry Austin, NBC News
Ten people were killed Sunday when their seaplane was ?engulfed in flames? at the Soldotna Airport in Alaska.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were still trying to determine what caused the DHC-3T single propeller aircraft, owned by Rediske Air, to crash.
The pilot and co-owner of the company, Walter Rediske, 42, was described as ?highly experienced? by a spokesman.
?This is a real hard time for everyone,? said Andrew Harcombe, who also described himself as a family friend.
?Andrew was a highly experienced pilot and lifelong Alaskan. We are all in a state of shock.? ??
He added that the company will cooperate fully with investigators.
Rashah Mcchesney / Peninsula Clarion via AP
Investigators look at the remains of a fixed-wing aircraft that was engulfed in flames Sunday in Soldotna, Alaska.
The Soldotna Police Department said the accident took place around 11:20 a.m. (3:20 p.m. ET), and emergency responders arrived to find the aircraft engulfed in flames.?
?We saw the plume immediately when we left the station,? Capt. Lesley Quelland of Central Emergency Services, told the Anchorage Daily News, adding that the big black cloud was visible from the station at least three miles away.
Harcombe said the air charter company only flew in Alaska had been in business for more than 20-years, adding that the company flew to both airports and more remote locations in the state.?
Clint Johnson,?chief of the NTSB in Anchorage, told?NBC's Alaska affiliate?that everyone aboard the plane were killed after the it crashed, though it is unclear whether the accident happened during takeoff or landing.
Soldotna is south of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula.
This story was originally published on Mon Jul 8, 2013 7:26 AM EDT
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