Alaska Charter Plane Crash Kills All Eight People Aboard

A chartered Cessna carrying a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers team crashed near a remote military radar site in western Alaska on August 20, killing both pilots and all six passengers. Federal investigators said the pilots could not see the gravel airstrip in heavy fog, aborted their first instrument approach as required and lost contact during a second attempt. The wreckage was found about one-third of a mile (0.5 kilometers) from the runway, which is bordered by mountainous terrain on three sides. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause.