A floatplane carrying 10 people crashed near a remote airport in Alaska early Tuesday, killing three and critically injuring several others.
Five survivors were flown to Anchorage for treatment after the plane crashed about 300 yards from Iliamna airport near East Wind Lake, said Edward Eagerton, a staff sergeant with the Alaska Air National Guard, to local NBC affiliate KTUU-TV.
Two other survivors did not require airlift for treatment.
The DeHavilland DHC-3T Turbine Otter was first reported to troopers as going down just before 6:30 a.m. in Dillingham. According to the FAA, the plane crashed during take-off.
Nearby residents recalled running out to the lakeside forest in the pre-dawn hours with flashlights and other equipment to assist with the initial search about 300 yards from the runway.
"We went out and turned all our car lights on, and a few minutes later we could see the light from the plane wing," Anelon said. "You could see the wing straight up in the air from here, this morning," Myrtle Anelon told Alaska Dispatch News. "People from all over the lake came and helped."
The victims killed in the crash were identified as James P. Fletcher, 70, of Clovis, California; Tony W. Degroot, 80 of Hanford, California; and 69-year-old James Specter of Shavertown, Pennsylvania, the Associated Press reported.
The regional office for the National Transportation and Safety Board in Alaska, which investigates plane crashes in the area, could not immediately be reached for comment.