Jaw-dropping photo shows where a tourist plane crashed on the side of an Alaskan mountain, killing all 5 on board
- The National Park Service released a photo on Monday showing a tourist plane that had crashed into a ridge on Denali, North America's tallest mountain.
- The plane crashed Saturday evening, as pilot Craig Layson was taking a group of four Polish tourists to see Kahiltna Glacier.
- A park ranger confirmed Monday the deaths of four of the people on board. A fifth person is missing, but presumed dead.
A dramatic photo the National Park Service released Monday shows a tourist plane hanging precariously on the side of an Alaskan moutain, after a deadly crash over the weekend.
Pilot Craig Layson took a group of four Polish tourists to see the Kahiltna glacier, at the base of Denali - North America's tallest mountain - Saturday evening.
About an hour after taking off, the plane crashed into the side of Thunder Mountain, one of Denali's ridges that stands nearly 11,000 feet above the gracier.
Layson radioed for help, saying his passengers were injured, and there was initially hope that they might survive since there were sleeping bags, a stove, and food on board.
But poor weather prevented a rescue over the weekend, and by the time a ranger reached the crash site on Monday, he found four bodies. The missing fifth person is presumed dead as well.
The park service ranger was lowered down on a line from the helicopter and dug through snow that had filled the aircraft to find the bodies of four people.
There were no footprints or other disturbances in the snow that would have indicated anyone made it out of the plane, the park service said.
Officials at Denali National Park are now working to determine if and when they can launch a mission to recover the bodies.
The four Polish passengers on the plane are not being identified, at the request of officials at their national embassy in Los Angeles.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Ideally, an investigator would travel to the crash site and keep analyzing the wreckage when it's removed from the mountain, spokesman Clint Johnson said.
"My understanding is that it's in a crevasse-laden area," Johnson said, adding that reaching the site will "require technical climbing experience."
Layson was a married father-of-three from Saline, Michigan, The Saline Post reported. The newspaper says he spent the last two summers living in Alaska with his wife, working for K2 Aviation.
He also owned Stony Creek Collision in nearby Ypsilanti, Michigan, manager Bobby Seldkamp told The Associated Press by phone Monday evening. His family told local ABC affiliate WXYZ that he had been flying since he was a teenager.
While the climbing season generally ends in mid-July, it's still considered safe for sightseeing flights to land on the glacier later in the season, allowing visitors to walk on the ice field.
Temperatures on the mountain at 11,000 feet can be warm if the sun is out, but likely below freezing at night, American Alpine Institute director of operations Jason Martin said.
K2 Aviation suspended all sightseeing flights after the crash and said it's cooperating with the investigation. The company has been family-owned and operated for 55 years, according to a statement.