Sunita SomvanshiA charter aircraft carrying eight people crashed at a remote radar site in western Alaska on Thursday, killing everyone on board, the U.S. military said. The Cessna 441 had taken off from Anchorage and was approaching Cape Newenham, roughly 450 miles southwest, when it went down near the airstrip around 12:15 p.m.
Two pilots and six passengers were on the flight, operated by Security Aviation under a civilian contract, according to Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region chief. Search-and-rescue crews later confirmed there were no survivors.
The plane went down at Cape Newenham Airport, an Air Force strip that serves the Long Range Radar Site, a facility managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center as part of a network that tracks aircraft in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said two of its employees were among the dead after one of its chartered flights crashed.
“This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of Alaskan Command. “These individuals were dedicated professionals carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment.”
Weather observations from the National Weather Service showed fog and visibility of less than 800 feet at the landing strip around the time of the crash. The gravel runway is nearly 4,000 feet long and sits on the slope of a mountain taller than 2,300 feet, with high terrain on both sides and at the south end, conditions that can make aborting a landing difficult.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate; the NTSB typically takes one to two years to determine a probable cause. Only military and approved charter flights are permitted to land at Cape Newenham.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski offered condolences, noting she had traveled extensively with Security Aviation and met many of its pilots. The names of those on board will be released after next of kin are notified.
Aviation safety continues to draw scrutiny in the state, where remote terrain and harsh weather make flying among the most hazardous in the United States. A Jet2 flight’s emergency landing earlier this month and a separate maintenance lapse on a Qantas A380 underscored how routinely crews navigate fragile margins, while a rare summer snow warning for Alaska’s interior was a reminder of how quickly conditions shift.
