A tragic incident unfolded in western Alaska as a plane crashed at a remote military site, claiming the lives of all eight individuals on board. Authorities revealed that the aircraft was attempting its second landing approach in dense fog when communication was lost. The two pilots of the Cessna were navigating solely by instruments due to poor visibility, and the crash occurred around midday on Thursday.
According to Clint Johnson, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)’s Alaska region chief, regulations mandated the pilots to abort their initial landing due to the weather conditions. The fatal crash happened during their second landing attempt, approximately 500 meters from the airstrip, which is surrounded by mountainous terrain on three sides. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recommends pilots rely on GPS and other instruments for landing at this location.
Among the passengers were two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees and four contractors, two of whom worked for Calista Brice, a group of companies engaged in construction, engineering, and logistics in remote areas. Calista Brice is a subsidiary of Calista Corp., an Alaska Native regional corporation. The nature of the work being conducted by the individuals at the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site, situated about 725 kilometers west of Anchorage along Alaska’s southwest coast, has not been disclosed by the military.
NTSB investigators are en route to the crash site to gather information. The radar facility, established in the 1950s as part of a network for early missile attack detection, now monitors airspace toward Russia, North Korea, and China. U.S. Air Force Lt.-Gen. Robert Davis expressed sorrow over the loss, recognizing the passengers as dedicated professionals fulfilling a critical mission in a challenging environment.
Weather conditions deteriorated on the day of the crash, with heavy fog enveloping the area. A nearby automated observation system reported low cloud cover, fog, and 16-kilometer visibility moments before the incident. However, visibility dropped significantly to less than 400 meters in the update following the crash, as noted by Carrie Haisley, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Weather Service’s Alaska sector operations center.
The airstrip is located within a private military installation managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center, part of a network of remote radar sites overseeing air traffic in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders. The Cape Newenham outpost ceased operations in 1983 with the installation of a new radar system, visited sporadically by civilian contractors for maintenance work.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicated that the deceased employees were part of a project team supporting a U.S. Air Force initiative, without providing further specifics. The flight was conducted by Security Aviation, a charter company based in Anchorage, which did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.