Alaska plane crash leaves 8 dead after attempt to land in heavy fog
The National Transportation Safety Board logo and signage are seen at a news conference at NTSB headquarters in Washington. (Photo: AP)A plane that crashed at a remote military site in western Alaska, killing all eight people on board, was making its second runway approach in heavy fog when it lost contact, authorities said Friday.
The Cessna’s two pilots could not see the gravel airstrip and were flying solely by instruments when the plane crashed about midday Thursday, Clint Johnson, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)’s Alaska region chief, told a virtual news conference.
Regulations required that they abort their first landing attempt because of the lack of visibility, he said, and the plane crashed on its second attempt, about 500 metres from the runway. The runway is surrounded by mountainous terrain on three sides, and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recommends pilots use GPS and other instruments when they land there.
(With inputs from AP)
