USA: Seaplanes Collide Midair Over Alaska, At Least 5 Passenger Killed

Two seaplanes carrying cruise ship tourists have collided midair over southeastern Alaska, killing at least five and injuring 10, while one person is missing.

The accident occurred on Monday afternoon over waters about 40 kilometres northeast of Ketchikan town, said Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios, a coastguard spokesperson.

The seaplanes collided under unknown circumstances, Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said .Weather conditions in the area on Monday included high overcast skies.

Seaplanes have pontoons mounted under the fuselage so they can land on water.

Local emergency responders worked with state and federal agencies and good Samaritan vessels to help rescue victims.

The passengers were from the cruise ship Royal Princess and were on sightseeing flights.

The ship left Canada's Vancouver city on May 11 and was scheduled to arrive in the city of Anchorage in Alaska on Saturday.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives and the families of those impacted by today's accident. Princess Cruises is extending its full support to traveling companions of the guests involved, Princess Cruises said in a statement.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident.

The Washington DC-based investigative team from the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive in Ketchikan on Tuesday afternoon, agency spokesman Peter Knudson said.

He said board member Jennifer Homendy is also travelling with the so-called "Go Team", which investigates major accidents.

The crash site, which the FAA said was at Coon Cove near George Inlet, lies in the vicinity of a popular tourist lodge that runs excursions to the nearby Misty Fjords National Monument, about 480km south of Juneau, Alaska's capital.

One of the aircraft involved was a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver with five people on board and the other was a de Havilland Otter DHC-3 carrying 11 people, FAA spokesperson Allen Kenitzer said in an email message, citing information from local authorities.

The Ketchikan-based operator of the larger plane, Taquan Air, said its pilot and nine passengers were rescued and they were receiving medical attention, but one passenger's fate remained unknown.

That group was returning from a sightseeing tour of Misty Fjords when the crash occurred, Taquan said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Taquan Air, the operator of the Otter, said the company had suspended operations while federal authorities investigate the deadly crash.

It is not the first time a major plane crash has occurred near Ketchikan, a popular tourist destination.

In June 2015, a pilot and eight passengers had died when a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter, operated by Promech Air Inc, crashed into mountainous terrain about 39km from Ketchikan.

The NTSB later determined that pilot error and lack of a formal safety programme were behind the crash.


Tourism Observer

RUSSIA: Anadyr, The Summer City Of Russia

Anadyr is the capital city of Chukotka and the easternmost town in Russia.

Anadyr is a port town and the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located at the mouth of the Anadyr River at the tip of a peninsula that protrudes into Anadyrsky Liman. Anadyr is the easternmost town in Russia.

More easterly settlements, such as Provideniya and Uelen, do not have town status. It was previously known as Novo–Mariinsk.

The city's recent history is related to the name of the governor Abramovich, now deposed, and whose renovations have touched upon all aspects of city's life.

Due to the colors of the houses the city bears the name of summer city. It was founded by a Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev in 1689 on the mouth of the river Kazachka.

It is claimed that the town of Anadyr annexed the neighboring ethnic village of Tavayvaam in May 1994, and that this was done by then governor Alexander Nazarov with a view to saving money from the autonomous okrug budget.

If the national village had indeed been absorbed into the town of Anadyr then there would have been no obligation for the autonomous okrug to allocate specific funds for the indigenous population there.

Paul Steinhardt in 2011 led a group of scientists that landed in Anadyr en route to an expedition into the Koryak Mountains to search for naturally occurring quasicrystals.

Three quasicrystals have been found to date from the material gathered on that expedition, including icosahedrite, decagonite, a yet unnamed third natural quasicrystal, which unlike icosahedrite and decagonite is unlike anything ever previously synthesized in a laboratory.

Steinhbardt's team has established that the natural quasicrystals were embedded in meteorite that had hit Earth about 15,000 years ago.

The town of Anadyr is situated at the tip of a large cape, to the north of which is the mouth of the Anadyr River and to the east the estuarine part of that river, the Anadyrsky Liman, which empties into the Gulf of Anadyr.

The town itself is situated on a gentle slope rising up from the sea, on the other side of the Anadyr River are mountains, but to the west, beyond the town are large expanses of flat tundra.

It is on a similar parallel as Fairbanks, Alaska; Skelleftea,Sweden; and Oulu, Finland. Apart from those cities, population at such northerly parallels are normally sparse.

Anadyr is the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Anadyrsky District, even though it is not a part of it.

As an administrative division, it is, together with the selo Tavayvaam, incorporated separately as the town of okrug significance of Anadyr an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.

As a municipal division, the town of okrug significance of Anadyr is incorporated as Anadyr Urban Okrug.

Anadyr is an important sea port on the Bering Sea and is connected to almost all major Russian Far Eastern seaports.

Anadyr's Ugolny Airport serves major and minor cities in the Russian Far East with connections to Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, and Moscow, while Bering Air provides charter flights to Nome, Alaska in the United States.

The airport is on the other side of the Anadyrsky Liman, and from January to May, transportation from the airport to Anadyr is by ice road.

In the summer there is a ferry which transports passengers across the Anadyr River to the airport, but during spring and autumn when the river ice is melting and full of drifting ice floes, the only means of transportation to the airport is via helicopter.

Although there is a network of roads between Anadyr and Tavayvaam, the town is not connected to any other settlement via road. Construction of the Anadyr Highway was started in 2014, to link the town to Magadan, a distance of 1,800 kilometres (1,100 mi).

Anadyr experiences a subarctic climate. Winters are long and very cold; summers are cool and short. January is the coldest month with an average temperature of −22.6 °C (−8.7 °F).

July is the warmest month with an average temperature of 11.6 °C (52.9 °F). Temperatures above 25 °C (77 °F) are rare. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −46.8 °C (−52.2 °F) recorded on January 3, 1913. The highest temperature recorded in was 30 °C (86 °F) on July 7, 1956.

The weather changes easily with heavy storms often being brought in from the Anadyrsky Liman and the Bering Sea. This coupled with strong southerly winds in the autumn often brings flooding to the area. May is the driest month while January is the wettest.

Anadyr Chukchi Dancers

There are regular flights from Moscow by Transaero, from Khabarovsk and Vladivostok by Vladavia and from Magadan by Yakutia. Moscow flight is daily one, the other ones are served once or twice a month.

There is a Bering Air charter flight from Nome, Alaska. Foreigners need at least invitation paper from the tour agency. The airport's location is on the far away coast from the city, so get ready for a long outdoor trip, first leg of which is covered by 40 min by bus and the second leg is on board of a cutter. Cutter departs every two hours.

Local airport serves plane flights to Bilibino, Pevek, Provideniya and others, to where a ticket is being bought months in advance. So helicopter is the right choice.

To view Anadyr's landmarks will take couple of days, but to learn about it will need much longer. Enjoy Chukchi national dance to compare it with Kamchatka's.

Memorials observed in Anadyr:

- Saint Trinity Cathedral and a statue of St. Nikolai.

- Cathedral of Divine Transfiguration.

- First workers of Chukotka memorial.

- Chukotka Legacy Museum

Winter is time for dog-sledging. Summer is good for hiking to mountains, fishing and rafting. Visiting remote villages of Chukchi and Eskimo peoples.

On sale you will find Bone carvings as souvenirs

Only three hotels are available:

- Chukotka Hotel

- Anadyr Hotel

- Gostevoy Dvor


Tourism Observer

USA: Ha Ha Ha, Drunkard Urinates On Passengers Aboard Jetblue Flight

A drunk passenger on board a JetBlue plane has been arrested upon arrival in the western US state of Oregon after urinating on fellow passengers, authorities say.

Flight 45 from Anchorage, Alaska, was met by local authorities upon arrival into Portland at 4:26 this morning Friday local time following an incident involving an intoxicated customer, Jetblue said.

Portland police said Jeff Rubin, 26, spent several hours in jail before being released.

He faces charges of second-degree criminal mischief and offensive littering.

Crew and passengers on board the flight told police the suspect slept through most of the three-hour flight but woke up shortly before landing and began relieving himself.

Approximately 30 minutes prior to landing he stood up and began urinating through the cracks of the seat onto the passengers seated in front of him, the police report said.

At some point Jeff Rubin lost his balance causing him to fall backwards and urinate upwards which got on the passengers and seats next to him as well as some other passenger's personal belongings."

Passengers sitting close by said Rubin fell back asleep after the act.

ALASKA: Three Dead In Alaska Floatplane Crash

Anchorage - Authorities say three people are dead after a floatplane belonging to a fishing lodge crashed with 10 people on board in southwest Alaska.

Alaska State Troopers say the three were from outside the state.

The agency says injured passengers are being flown to Anchorage hospitals following the crash on Tuesday near the small community of Iliamna. It's unclear how many people are hurt.

Local residents say the plane belongs to the Rainbow King Lodge. Calls to the business went unanswered.

Rescue personnel initially took injured passengers to the Iliamna clinic.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Allen Kenitzer says the plane crashed on take-off at Eastwind Lake. He says the aircraft was a De Havilland DHC-3 Turbine Otter on floats. The cause of the crash is not yet known.