Five people dead after two planes crash midair in Alaska

Five people died after two aircrafts collided midair in a remote part of western Alaska Wednesday morning, police said.

Pilot Harry Wrase was flying with passengers Steven Paul Andrew, 32, and Aaron Jay Minock, 21, when his Caravan plane collided with a Piper plane operated by Zach Justin Babat who was taking passenger Jeff Thomas Burruss, 40, on a hunting trip.
The remote crash scene outside the small Yukon River town Russian Mission was only accessible by helicopter and conflicting reports initially complicated a rescue mission, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska division said.
Once first responders arrived at the scene, they were quickly able to determine that no one survived the chaotic crash, which occurred just before 11 a.m.

Family members of the victims – most of whom had a deep affinity for flying – were shocked by the airborne disaster.

Wrase’s niece took to Facebook to recall how “passionate” her uncle was about flying.

“My heart is so broken,” Hannah Nadesta Brown wrote. “Today we lost my uncle to what he loved doing most, flying.”
Both pilots worked for separate aircraft companies chartering wildlife and hunting trips in the area.

Wrase’s company, Hageland, came under scrutiny after a series of crashes in 2013 and 2014, including one that killed four passengers, according to the Alaska Dispatch News.

Alaska State Troopers and National Transportation Safety Broad officials were not immediately able to determine what prompted the crash. An investigation was ongoing late Thursday.