Crews Recover Bodies of 9 Victims of Alaska Plane Crash
Emergency crews recovered on Friday the bodies of nine people from the wreckage of a sightseeing plane that remains teetering on a steep rock face after crashing in Alaska, a rescue official said. Eight passengers and the pilot were killed when the aircraft, an excursion flight booked via a cruise ship, went down during a tour of the Misty Fjords area of southeast Alaska on Thursday afternoon, flight operator Promech Air said. A helicopter pilot spotted the wreckage against a granite rock face about 800 feet (240 meters) above Ella Lake, according to an Alaska State Trooper report. The bodies were recovered by a team of eight crew members…
Nichols Brothers Launch Sternwheeler Cruise Ship
Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island and Seattle-based American West Steamboat Company, owned by Henry Hillman, Jr., CEO of Oregon Rail Corp., have launched the newly constructed overnight sternwheeler cruise ship Empress of the North. Beginning at 5:00am on Monday, June 16, 2003, the 360-foot sternwheeler was transferred on a specially designed rail system into Holmes Harbor, where it launched at high tide at approximately 8:45pm. With the launch open to the public, an estimated 5,000 people showed up for the event. Designed by Seattle naval architects, Guido Perla & Associates, construction of the Empress of the North began at Nichols Brothers’ shipyard in April, 2002.