Crashed Alaska Plane Aborted Landing Before Accident, NTSB Says
Pilots operating a plane that crashed near a military airstrip in Alaska Thursday were battling bad weather conditions and had aborted a landing attempt prior to the accident, according to the US National Transportation Safety Board.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has stated that the pilots of a plane that crashed near a military airstrip in Alaska on Thursday were battling adverse weather conditions and had aborted a landing attempt before the accident. The two pilots were relying solely on instruments to navigate, as the weather conditions prevented them from visually seeing the ground.
After the missed approach at Cape Newenham LRRS Airport, air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft, triggering a search operation. The crash, which claimed the lives of all eight people on board, occurred around 11:45 a.m. local time. The NTSB is leading the investigation into the crash, which took place west of the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site, a military facility used to access and provide supplies to a remote radar station.
The plane, a Cessna 441 aircraft, had departed from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and was operated by Security Aviation, a private aircraft charter company. The NTSB's Alaska regional office chief, Clint Johnson, said that the weather conditions at the time of the accident were cloudy and foggy with low visibility.
The wreckage is located in a region with steep, mountainous terrain, requiring a helicopter recovery effort.
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