All 4 dead on board plane after it crashes near runway in Alaska

A plane crash about half a mile from a runway near the community of St. Mary’s in southwest Alaska killed all four occupants aboard the aircraft, authorities said.

Alaska State Troopers said they received a report of an overdue aircraft around 11:15 p.m. Sunday from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. Police responding to the plane’s last known location found the wreckage and the bodies of four men, the agency said. The names of the dead were not immediately released.

Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region, said the plane, which left Bethel, was operated by Yute Commuter Service and was believed to be carrying at least two company employees. An NTSB investigator was expected to arrive in Anchorage on Monday and head to the crash site on Tuesday, weather permitting, Johnson said.

The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment from Yute Commuter Service through its online messaging system.

The company offers scheduled passenger and cargo service and charter flights and operates throughout the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Alaska. The company was involved in an accident near Tuntutuliak in 2020 that left five dead, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

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