Plane-Crash Victims Found

HAINES, Alaska - Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of six men - including two from Washington State - who died when their sightseeing plane crashed on a mountain near this southeast Alaska city as the occupants tried to spot a pair of bears.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were headed for the crash site yesterday to determine what caused the single-engine Cherokee to slam into the mountain at about the 500-foot level.

"It was overcast, but with high ceilings," said Don Otis, an Alaska State Trooper based at Haines. "Weather was not a factor."

The dead were identified as Jeff Bradley, 25, of Haines, the pilot; and passengers George Drumheller, 62, and Daniel Shea, 37, both of Walla Walla; John Degregorio of Palm Springs, Calif.; Ron Pearson and Allen Schecter, both from Houston, Texas.

Witnesses said the Piper stalled after apparently turning so passengers could look at a bear and cub on the beach.