Missing plane carrying 9 people found on cliff-side in southeast Alaska; condition unknown

The U.S. Coast Guard says a plane carrying nine people has been discovered on a cliff-side in southeast Alaska after it was reported missing Thursday afternoon.

The Alaska Dispatch News reports (http://bit.ly/1RAUewH ) a medical team has been sent out but the condition of the plane and its occupants isn't immediately known.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Kelly Parker says officials were notified of an overdue turboprop Otter operated by a Ketchikan-based sightseeing company with nine people aboard. The agency was launching a helicopter from Sitka and a rescue vessel from Ketchikan.

Officials began tracking an emergency locator transmitter that activated near Misty Fjords, and a helicopter pilot spotted the plane.

Messages left by The Associated Press for the Coast Guard and an Anchorage representative of the National Transportation Safety Board were not immediately returned.