ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A chartered plane that crashed into a shallow harbor after taking off from Kodiak Island, killing six people, was carrying a group of fishermen from a dissident sect of the Russian Orthodox Church home for Christmas.

Four people survived the crash Saturday, and one of them told investigators that the door to a baggage compartment in the nose of the small plane had popped open.

“We want to look at the aerodynamic qualities of opening a very large door in flight,” Clint Johnson, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said Sunday. “This does not signal an end of our investigation of the crash by any means, but it at least played a part in it.”

The Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain crashed about 50 yards off the end of a runway after taking off Saturday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB. The wreckage was recovered Sunday.

Planned celebration

The passengers were members of Alaska’s community of Russian Orthodox Old Believers who had been fishing in Kodiak and were taking a short flight north to Homer to celebrate Eastern Orthodox Christmas at home today.

Dean Andrew, the pilot of a float plane that had been taxiing nearby, said he pulled the four survivors aboard.

One of the men was bleeding profusely from a head wound, and all of them were hysterical, saying that family members were in the submerged plane, Andrew said.

“Once I got the four in, I could see down into the fuselage, but I couldn’t see any signs of life,” Andrew said. “I had an emotional time. I thought about diving in but I had to keep the plane running to hold it steady against the wind.”

The flight was operated by Kodiak-based Servant Air.

Andrew said he heard on his plane’s radio 50-year-old pilot Robin Starrett saying he needed to return to the airport. Andrew said he could tell by his voice that something serious was going on.

“I decided to stay put in case I was needed,” Andrew said. “I had a feeling something would happen.”

Johnson said a survivor, 32-year-old Karnely Ivanov, told investigators that just as the Piper got airborne, the baggage area door opened at the nose of the plane on the pilot’s side. That prompted Starrett, of Kodiak, to try to return to the airport.

Starrett was killed along with five passengers from Homer: Stefan F. Basargin, 36; Pavel F. Basargin, 30; Zahary F. Martushev, 25; Iosif F. Martushev, 15; and Andrian Reutov, 22, officials said.

The survivors were identified as Feodot Basargin, 33; Andrean V. Basargin, 25; Anton Rijkoff, 30; and Ivanov.

Church split

Old Believers split from the Russian Orthodox church in the 17th century in protest of changes made in the church at that time. Their members are scattered throughout Russia, Asia and the Western Hemisphere, shunning much of the modern way of life. About 1,500 are believed to live in Alaska.

“Everybody knows everybody. It’s a tragedy,” said Greg Yakunin, an Old Believer and fisherman who knew all of the passengers, from the town of Nikolaevsk.

“They were all friends of mine,” he said. “I could have been on that plane, too.”

Iosif Martushev was a ninth-grader at Kachemak Selo school, and Reutov and Zahary Martushev were former students there, said Randy Creamer, the school’s principal.

The small school sits near Homer on the Kenai Peninsula in one of three Old Believer villages in the area.

Creamer described Iosif was an artistic student who loved to make sketches of moose, snowmobiles and fishing boats. Zahary Martushev was married and had several children, and Reutov got married last fall, Creamer said.

The school planned to have extra staff on hand to counsel students when classes resume Wednesday, Creamer said.

“This being such a small place, it’s hitting people really hard,” he said.

Two survivors were flown to Anchorage for treatment, including Feodot Basargin, who was in fair condition, said John Callahan, spokesman for Providence Health and Services Alaska.

The conditions of the other three were not available, but Alaska State Troppers said the two who remained in Kodiak were treated and released.

Servant Air serves half a dozen communities on the large island in south-central Alaska, 225 miles southwest of Anchorage. Kodiak and Homer each have populations of roughly 6,000.