Couple With South Jordan Ties Killed In Alaska Plane Crash
May 15, 2019, 6:53 PM
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — A couple with ties to South Jordan was killed when two airplanes collided Monday in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Ryan and Elsa Wilk split their time between Canada and Utah. They were passengers on a sightseeing plane that collided with another sightseeing plane early Monday afternoon.
According to a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board, one sightseeing plane, a DHC-3T Turbine Otter operated by Taquan Air, was flying southwest toward the Ketchikan airport at about 3,800 feet. Another sightseeing plane, a DHC-2 Beaver operated by Mountain Air Service, was flying west-southwest toward the Ketchikan airport at about 3,300 feet.
The NTSB spokesperson said their preliminary information shows around 12:21 PM, the Turbine Otter began to descend from 3,800 feet to between 3,300 feet and 3,200 feet. The two airplanes collided between 3,200 feet and 3,300 feet on the west side of the George Inlet northeast of Ketchikan.
There were 11 people on the Turbine Otter and five people on the Beaver. Six people, including the Wilks, were killed in the collision.
Shannon Wilk said in a statement to KSL that her brother and sister-in-law had been going back and forth between Vancouver and Utah for a while, waiting on Elsa’s United States residency paperwork to be approved. The two had been living in Utah off-and-on for six years.
“He was the best big brother a girl could ask for,” Shannon Wilk said.
Emily Farrer, who lives next door to the Wilks’ South Jordan home, said she didn’t know the couple well, but that they were always friendly. They met several times at neighborhood get-togethers and her son mowed the Wilks’ lawn.
“They were just real nice people, real chatty,” Farrer said.
The NTSB spokesperson said a preliminary report would be available in about two weeks.
