JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees were among eight people killed when a small plane crashed in foggy weather near a remote military radar site on the southwestern coast of Alaska.
The two pilots and six passengers who died in the crash around midday Thursday were not immediately identified. The twin-engine Cessna 441 had taken off from Anchorage and was headed for the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site Airport about 450 miles (725 kilometers) west.
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The radar site was built in the 1950s as part of a network designed to provide early warning of a missile attack by the Soviet Union. Today, it monitors the skies off the coast in the direction of Russia, North Korea and China.
The site has a gravel airstrip built on the slope of a mountain. The Federal Aviation Administration recommends that pilots use GPS and other instruments when they land there.
Those on board were “dedicated professionals carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of Alaskan Command, the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and Eleventh Air Force, said in a statement.
“This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” Davis said.
Weather conditions were changing Thursday as heavy fog rolled through the area. An automated observation system not far from the airport reported a low cloud ceiling, fog and visibility of about 10 miles (16 kilometers) in the minutes before the crash, but the next update about 15 minutes after the crash showed visibility reduced dramatically to less than one-quarter mile (0.40 kilometer), according to Carrie Haisley, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s Alaska sector operations center.
The airport is a private military site managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center. It’s part of a network of remote radar sites that tracks aircraft operating in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders, the statement from Alaskan Command said.
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The outpost at Cape Newenham closed in 1983 after a new radar was installed, and now the site is visited only occasionally by civilian contractors who perform maintenance on the system.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the two employees who died were part of a “project delivery team en route to a project site in support of the U.S. Air Force.” The statement did not provide additional details about the work.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators were traveling to the scene Friday.
Investigators will want to know whether the pilots declared an emergency or whether the plane simply went missing before the crash, as well as the weather conditions at the time, said Mike O’Donnell, who oversaw airport safety programs and accident investigations for much of his 17 years at FAA.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska posted online that the flight was operated by Security Aviation, an airplane charter company based in Anchorage.
The company did not immediately respond Friday to an email seeking comment.
“I join Alaskans in offering condolences as we learn of the plane crash in Cape Newenham,” Murkowski posted Thursday night. “I’ve traveled extensively with Security Aviation throughout Alaska, and have met many of their experienced pilots.”
Associated Press writer Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.
