Alaska state troopers confirmed the deaths yesterday of all on board two small planes that collided in mid-air over western Alaska on Wednesday.
According to the Alaska National Guard, there were a total of five people on board both planes.
The collision occurred between a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan, which carried three people, and a Renfro Alaskan Adventures Piper PA-18 super cub, which carried two.
Clint Johnson, the lead Alaska investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board which sent investigators to the crash site, noted that such mid-air crashes are generally "technical and complex."
"Ultimately what we are trying to do is to see how the airplanes came together," Johnson said, according to Alaska Dispatch News. "What we want to do is to see if either one of these airplanes was able to see one another, either electronically or visually."
The tragic outcome of the plane crash comes in contrast to another incident yesterday, in which Coast Guard Auxiliary pilot Yaakov Yosef Rosenberg was forced into a crash-landing when his plane's engine died while surveying the Hudson River. He and his co-pilot, Erik Pearson, suffered injuries but survived.
Rosenberg decided to crash at a dangerous angle after he noticed that the field in which he had planned to land was covered with small children.
"If I would have killed any kids saving myself, I would have said, "God, please reverse it. Take me instead," Rosenberg said.