An Alaskan vacation with friends turned into tragedy for two couples from Hawai'i when the motor home they were in crashed Tuesday near Seward, Alaska, killing a husband and wife from Makakilo.

Alaska state troopers have identified those killed in the crash as Jeffrey and Dawn Klausing, both 41. The Klausings were passengers in the motor home, which was being driven by Dale Podoll, said Beth Ipsen, a spokeswoman for the Alaska state troopers.

Jeffrey Klausing was a civilian employee with the Department of Defense who worked at the Joint Intelligence Operations Center at Camp Smith.

Podoll, a Waikele resident, received minor injuries in the crash and refused medical treatment at the scene, Ipsen said. Podoll's wife, Eilene, was airlifted to an Anchorage hospital in critical condition, Ipsen said.

Three other people in the motor home were taken by ambulance to various hospitals on the Seward Peninsula, Ipsen said.

They were identified as Catherine Dagata, 28, Donald Bobilya, 74, and Fatima Leonard, whose age was not immediately available.

Ipsen said the troopers office received word of the crash at 3:23 p.m. Alaska time yesterday afternoon. The office was told that the 38-foot motor home ran off Seward Highway at milepost 25, went into a ditch and struck several trees.

None of those in the motor home was wearing a seat belt, including the driver, Ipsen said.

The cause of the accident, which happened on a straight stretch of road, had not been determined as of yesterday morning, Ipsen said. Alcohol was not suspected to be a factor, she said.

She said investigators believe those traveling in the motor home knew one another as co-workers in Hawai'i.

David White, of Maryland, is Eilene Podoll's twin brother and has been in Hawai'i taking care of their elderly mother while Eilene and her husband were vacationing.

"Jeffrey (Klausing) and Dale (Podoll) were best friends," White said. "They worked together for the Department of Defense. They left for Alaska last Tuesday and were supposed to return this Saturday."

White said he believes the Klausings had two young children, a boy and a girl, who accompanied their parents on the trip to Alaska but who were not in the motor home when it crashed.

Two other motor homes were part of a group of three that were traveling together with the Podolls and Klausings, White said.

He said the two families took a similar trip to Alaska last year.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.