A Hopkins couple was killed in a plane crash southeast of Seward, Alaska, last weekend.

Michael John Timmer, 42, and Traci Pauline Timmer, 43, were passengers in the fatal crash of a Helio Courier H-250 plane. The pilot, 63-year-old Kem Sibbitt of Fairbanks, also died.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane crashed on land and then burst into flames. The fire incinerated the wreckage.

NTSB Alaska chief Clint Johnson said Sibbitt took off to pick up the couple and their gear at Johnstone Bay and bring them back to Seward midafternoon Friday. The bay is framed by icefields to the north and Chugach range peaks to the east and west.

The couple has been vacationing in Alaska and recently bought property, according to a Gofundme page established to help their five children.

Authorities said they heard about the crash near Little Johnstone Lake on the Kenai (KEE-neye) Peninsula at about 6 p.m. Friday. A commercial helicopter from Seward was sent to the site and confirmed there were no sur