Charter plane carrying eight crashes near remote radar site in western Alaska
A charter plane carrying eight people crashed on Thursday, Aug 20 near a remote radar site in western Alaska, federal authorities said.
Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska region chief, said two pilots and six passengers were on board. He did not immediately have details on their condition.
The twin-engine Cessna 441, operated by Security Aviation, departed Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and was headed to Cape Newenham when it crashed west of Cape Newenham LRRS Airport at 12:15 pm local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Johnson said the aircraft is believed to have gone down early Thursday afternoon while on approach to Cape Newenham. The information available so far remains preliminary, he said.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center said it had launched a search and rescue mission after receiving a report of an "aircraft incident" near the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site. It said further information would be released as it became available, and did not respond to questions.
