A charter plane has crashed while approaching a remote radar site in southwest Alaska. Search and rescue teams reached the site quickly, but all eight people onboard died in the crash.
The charter flight took off from Anchorage on Wednesday, headed for Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site Airport, a small airstrip on Alaska’s remote southwest coast. Two pilots and six passengers were on board the Cessna 441.
They never made it to the destaintion, because something went wrong during the flight and the plane crashed.
Military search and rescue teams reached the crash site shortly after, but officials confirmed there were no survivors.
Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, who heads Alaskan Command, called it a devastating loss for the people who work there. “This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” he said, adding that those on board had been “carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment.”
Names of the deceased won’t go public until 24 hours after relatives have been notified, which is standard procedure.
Cause of crash unknown for now
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski posted a tribute on X shortly after the devastating news broke, saying she’d flown with the charter operator, Security Aviation, many times over the years and knew several of its pilots personally.
She thanked the Coast Guard, NTSB, state troopers and the Rescue Coordination Center for getting to the scene so quickly.
What caused the crash isn’t clear yet. The NTSB is sending investigators from Seattle to join the team already in Anchorage. They’re expected on site within a couple of days, depending on weather.
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