A romantic mid-air rendezvous between an Idaho woman and her boyfriend turned deadly when two planes collided over Alaska, sending them both to the ground and killing one of the pilots.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson told the Anchorage Daily News Sunday the two pilots took off from different western Alaska villages Friday but met up in the air on the way to Bethel, Alaska.

Johnson said pilot Kristen Sprague, of Idaho, lost track of the other plane shortly before it struck her plane's right wing about 800 feet above ground, though she was able to land safely.

The other plane, a Cessna 208 Caravan, crashed and burst into flames about 400 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska, killing 24-year-old Scott Veal, of Kenai, Alaska.

It was the state's third midair crash since July, The Associated Press reported.