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Sydney man named among dead in Alaskan seaplane collision

Sydney man Simon Bodie has been named as the Australian tourist who died after two sightseeing seaplanes collided mid-air in Alaska.

Alaska State Troopers confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Bodie, 56, from Tempe in Sydney’s inner-west, was one of six people killed in the horror crash.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to his family.

The collision occurred when a larger de Havilland Otter DHC-3, carrying 10 passengers and the pilot, was returning from Misty Fjord and collided with a smaller DHC-2 Beaver.

Mr Bodie was believed to have taken the flight as part of a side trip from a cruise he was on along the Alaskan coast.

“The Australian unfortunately is one of the people confirmed deceased,” US Coast Guard Lieutenant Brian Dykens told AAP.

The nationalities of the people from both planes are 14 Americans, a Canadian and the Australian Mr Brodie.

Ten people were rescued and are receiving medical care. Two people remain missing.

seaplane crash

Divers are searching for two missing passengers. Photo: USCG

Dive teams are searching for the missing pair in the icy cold waters of a southeast Alaska inlet after the incident near Ketchikan, a popular destination for cruise ships in Alaska.

Four of the survivors were airlifted to hospital.

Alaska’s National Transportation Safety Board has begun its investigation and said the two planes collided at between 32,000 and 33,000 feet on the west side of the George Inlet.

The NTSB’s ‘Go Team’ investigators will speak to the surviving pilot from the Taquan Air plane as well as witnesses and other pilots in the area.

The wreckage was expected to be recovered on Thursday. Investigators would also inspect perishable evidence, log books, training and qualifications, medical issues, flight plans, maintenance records, and routes.

Factors such as terrain, weather conditions and cruise sales would also be taken into account.

Neither plane had cockpit vice recorders or flight data recorders but were not required to, the NTSB said.

Teams were expected to remain at the crash scene for up to a week but would not conclude an exact cause of the crash in that period.

Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg told the Associated Press passengers’ injuries included “fractures to ribs, pelvis, arm and spine”.

Ms Gregg said that a 67-year-old man was in a serious condition in intensive care, while the three other patients were two women and a man in their 60s in satisfactory condition.

The Royal Princess, which can carry up to 3600 people, was among four city-sized cruise ships in the tiny coastal community on Tuesday.

A popular activity is “flightseeing” in Misty Fjords National Monument to view the lakes, snowcapped peaks and glacier valleys in the wilderness area.

The collision occurred when a larger de Havilland Otter DHC-3, carrying 10 passengers and the pilot and returning from Misty Fjord collided with a smaller DHC-2 Beaver with four passengers from the same cruise ship and a pilot.

-with AAP

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