Charter plane crash in western Alaska kills 8

A charter plane crash in western Alaska on Thursday killed all eight people on board, according to officials. The aircraft, a Cessna 441, departed Anchorage and was headed to Cape Newenham, about 450 miles southwest, when it crashed near its destination around 12:15 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in preliminary information.

Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska region chief, said two pilots and six passengers were on board the charter flight operated by Security Aviation, according to the Associated Press. The Alaskan Command said the aircraft was a civilian-contracted flight carrying eight personnel. Search-and-rescue crews later confirmed there were no survivors, the command said.

The plane went down at Cape Newenham Airport, an Air Force airstrip that provides access to the Long Range Radar Site, the command said in its statement. The cause of the crash is not yet known, and an investigation is underway.

According to the report by Mehr News, the flight was a civilian-contracted flight carrying eight personnel. The Alaskan Command added that the aircraft went down at Cape Newenham Airport, an Air Force airstrip that provides access to the Long Range Radar Site. The cause of the crash is not yet known.