A tourist plane crashes in Alaska, killing 6

(CNN) – Six people were killed after a tourist plane crashed in southeast Alaska on Thursday, the United States Coast Guard reported.

“An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from the Sitka Coast Guard Air Station located the wreckage at 2:37 pm and dropped two rescue swimmers who reported no survivors,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

There were five passengers and a pilot aboard the aircraft, identified by officials as a seaplane, operated by the tourism company Southeast Aviation.

There was fog and light rain in the area at the time of the accident, according to the Coast Guard, with moderate winds and poor visibility.

Alaska state troopers and the Coast Guard began their search after the aircraft disappeared early Thursday, alerted in the area by a radio beacon indicating the emergency position that automatically provides its location in a distress call, he told CNN. Coast Guard Petty Officer Kip Wadlow.

The distress beacon had placed the aircraft near Ketchikan in the vicinity of the Misty Fjords National Monument, a popular tourist attraction often seen from planes that can take off and land on water.

The five passengers were guests aboard a Holland America Line cruise ship, the company confirmed. The Nieuw Amsterdam is on a seven-day Alaska cruise that departed from Seattle last Saturday.