Holland America Line has suspended
excursions with Promech Air, the operator of a float plane that crashed last
week in Alaska’s Misty Fjord with eight HAL passengers aboard.
Promech’s DeHavilland
DHC-3 Otter turboprop went down for unknown reasons on June 25 during a
flightseeing trip. The
crash killed the eight guests from HAL’s Westerdam ship and the Promech pilot.
HAL said it has suspended sales of that flightseeing tour operated by
Promech out of Ketchikan. It said it continues to offer other flightseeing
excursions in various Alaskan ports with other operators.
Guests on HAL's Alaska cruises this week are being allowed to cancel any
scheduled flightseeing tour with any operator for any reason and receive a
full refund, said a HAL spokeswoman.
Promech Air says on its website it is the largest air taxi operator in
southern Southeast Alaska. In a statement released after the crash, Promech
said, "We
are incredibly distressed by this situation, and our thoughts and prayers are
with those onboard the plane and their families.”
Investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the crash
site about 25 miles northeast of Ketchikan over the weekend. The agency’s Alaska chief,
Clint Johnson, said it would take a full year before the NTSB publishes a final
report about the cause of the crash and months before initial indications
are released.