Plane crashes in Alaska; all nine on board dead

All nine people aboard an excursion plane from a Holland America Line cruise ship that crashed in Alaska on Thursday died in the accident, the aircraft company said.

Promech Air said in a statement the eight passengers and pilot were killed when the plane went down during a tour of the Misty Fjords area of southeast Alaska on Thursday afternoon. "There is nothing I can say that can alleviate the pain and overwhelming sense of loss that we, and the loved ones of those affected, are feeling," said Marcus Sessoms, president of Promech Air.

Bad weather to prevent recovery of bodies from Alaska plane crash. This is what it looked like around time of crash pic.twitter.com/KQGtQGFzgZ

— Preston Phillips (@10NewsPhillips) June 26, 2015

None of those on board the crashed single-engine aircraft was identified, pending notification of their families.

The crash took place near Ella Lake, about 20 miles (30 km) northeast of the town of Ketchikan, Holland America Line said in a statement. The cruise ship Westerdam left Seattle on Saturday.

The plane was found on a rock face about 800 feet (240 metres) above Ella Lake, an Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman was quoted as telling CBS affiliate KTVA.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to investigate the crash. The aircraft was a DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter. The excursion flight was sold through Holland America Line, a unit of Carnival Corp.

Representatives of the Alaska State Troopers and Coast Guard were not immediately available for comment