Charter plane crash near remote Alaska radar site kills all 8 aboard

Dhaka: A charter plane crashed near a remote radar installation in western Alaska, killing all eight occupants on board, media reports said, citing the US federal aviation and military officials.

The aircraft, a Cessna 441, departed Anchorage bound for Cape Newenham, roughly 450 miles southwest, and went down near its destination around 12:15 pm local time on August 20, the Federal Aviation Administration reported, according to preliminary information.

Two pilots and six passengers were aboard the flight, operated by Security Aviation, said the United States National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) Alaska Region Chief Clint Johnson.

The Alaskan Command described the flight as a civilian-contracted charter carrying eight personnel. Search-and-rescue teams later confirmed there were no survivors, the command said in a statement.

The US Army Corps of Engineers' Alaska District said it was aware one of its chartered flights had crashed, adding that two of its employees were among those killed.

The aircraft went down at Cape Newenham Airport, an Air Force airstrip that serves the Long Range Radar Site, the Alaskan Command said. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

The FAA and the NTSB will jointly investigate the incident, with the NTSB leading the probe, the FAA confirmed.

Access to the Cape Newenham facility is restricted to military and approved charter flights only.

According to FAA maps, the gravel runway measures nearly 4,000 feet and sits on the slope of a mountain rising more than 2,300 feet, with high terrain flanking both sides and the southern end, making a go-around difficult past a certain point during landing.

Officials said the names of those killed would be released once next of kin have been notified.