Alaska Crash Pilots Aborted Landing in Bad Weather, NTSB Says

The pilots of a Cessna 441 that crashed near a remote Alaska airstrip Thursday aborted a landing attempt in poor weather before the accident, the National Transportation Safety Board said. All eight people on board died.

The two pilots were navigating solely by instruments, said Clint Johnson, chief of the NTSB’s Alaska regional office. “Weather conditions would not allow them to actually visually see the ground,” he said Friday on a call with reporters. After the missed approach at Cape Newenham LRRS Airport, air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft and a search began, Johnson said.

The crash occurred around 11:45 a.m. local time west of the airport, which serves the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site, a military installation that tracks aircraft in Alaska’s airspace and along its border. The NTSB has launched a six-member team to the accident site. The agency said it will gather flight tracking data, air traffic control communications, witness statements, and information on the pilots’ experience and backgrounds. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days.

Security Aviation operated the plane as an air taxi flight, the NTSB said. The Cessna 441, a turboprop introduced in the 1970s, typically seats eight to nine passengers. Security Aviation is a private charter company that advertises services to “remote and secluded destinations” in Alaska.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it chartered the aircraft and that two of its employees were among the deceased.