8 people believed dead after planes collide and crash into Idaho lake

Eight people — all of the passengers and crew members onboard — are believed to have died after two planes collided in midair and crashed into a lake in Idaho on Sunday afternoon, the police said.

“At this time it is believed there are no survivors,” Lt Ryan Higgins of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. At least two people were pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Higgins said the two planes hit each other and then crashed into Lake Coeur d’Alene, near Powderhorn Bay, sometime after 2 pm Pacific time. There was a “pretty bad oil slick” at the scene after the crash, Higgins said, according to KREM, a local outlet.

Both planes have been located by the sheriff’s office sonar team, according to Higgins. They were in 127 feet of water, he said.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said in a statement that one of the aircrafts was a Cessna 206. He did not describe the other plane.

It was not immediately clear what may have led to the crash. Higgins said that an investigation was underway and that the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified.

The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to messages left Sunday night.

c.2020 The New York Times Company