KETCHIKAN, Alaska - A small airplane crashed near this island city in southeast Alaska killing five people, authorities said.

The victims include Tualatin residents Eric Smith, Christine Smith and 3-year-old Trevor Smith. The other victims were David Mayer of Oregon City and Daniel Herron of Irvine, California.

There were four survivors, according to Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters. The survivors include the pilot, Clifford Kamm, and Sara Steffen, both Ketchikan residents. The other two survivors are 3-year-old Allison Smith of Tualatin, Oregon (twin sister of 3-year-old Trevor Smith) and Mindy Mayer of Oregon City, Oregon.

Three of the four were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.  According to KATU's sister station in Seattle, KOMO-TV, Allison Smith is in critical condition, Clifford Kamm is in serious condition and Mindy Mayer is in satisfactory condition.  Information about the fourth survivor, Sara Steffen, was not immediately available.

Leipfert said the SeaWind Aviation plane crashed into a tree at Traitors Cove, about 25 miles north of Ketchikan. Jerry Kiffer with the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad said the plane went down on land about 200 feet from shore.

Peters said it couldn't be immediately confirmed that the plane hit a tree, but several trees were burning after the crash.

The cause was under investigation. Peters said at the time of the crash, high winds unexpectedly came up, but it couldn't immediately be determined if that was a factor.

Darkness and worsening weather ended recovery efforts Thursday night. Kiffer said the bodies would be recovered Friday.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were headed to the scene of the crash, said Allen Kenitzer, an FAA spokesman.

Investigators will be looking at a multiple of possible causes, including weather at the time of the crash, the plane's flight and maintenance logs, and the pilot's ratings and medical records.

Kenitzer said all the variables that could have affected the flight will be considered.

''They will try to find out what really happened,'' Kenitzer said Friday.

SeaWind Aviation's Web site lists its only aircraft as a deHavilland Beaver floatplane. The company offers bear viewing and sightseeing tours, including flights to nearby Misty Fiords National Monument.

Last month, five people were killed in another small plane crash near Ketchikan. The pilot of the Taquan Air float plane and four sightseers were killed July 24 in the mountains of Misty Fiords.

Earlier this month, four members of a New Jersey family were killed when their single-engine plane crashed into a home and set it ablaze in Sitka, also in southeast Alaska.

(All photos courtesy of Alaska State Troopers)