Four people are dead after a plane they were traveling in from Bethel crashed short of the runway in St. Mary’s late Sunday night, according to transportation officials.
The Cessna 207 was operated by Bethel-based Yute Commuter Service. The pilot and three passengers departed Bethel for the roughly 100-mile journey to the lower Yukon River community at around 9 p.m. Sunday, according to National Transportation Safety Board Alaska Chief Clint Johnson.
Johnson said the flight was not operating as one of Yute’s regularly scheduled or chartered flights.
“This is an in-house flight,” he said. “At least two of the folks on board are employees, and we’re still trying to sort out who the other folks are there, but at least two of them are company employees.”
According to National Weather Service data, conditions in St. Mary’s at the time of the crash were overcast, with light rain, fog and mist, and visibility limited to roughly 2 miles.
Johnson said the plane crashed within a half-mile of the runway at St. Mary’s following a request for what is known as special visual flight rules, or special VFR, clearance.
“Basically, what that allows is the airplane to get in under less than basic VFR conditions, into the airport area and onto the airport surface landing there,” he said. “Unfortunately, when they didn’t arrive, a search started shortly after that, and just after midnight is when Alaska State Troopers and good Samaritans found the airplane.”
Johnson said it is too early to say what may have caused the fatal crash.
According to the Anchorage Daily News, the crash is the third fatal airplane accident in Alaska in the past four days. Johnson said an additional investigator is being flown in from out of state to assist.
“We had to bring an investigator from the Lower 48. He arrives here tonight,” Johnson said. “And we also have a representative from the airplane manufacturer in this case, which is Cessna. So they plan on launching out there tomorrow, weather permitting, directly to St. Mary’s.”
Yute Commuter Service has had a string of accidents in recent years. The company’s last fatal crash was in February 2020, when a pilot and all four passengers died near Tuntutuliak. According to the NTSB, the probable cause was the pilot’s decision to fly in what may have been whiteout conditions.
According to Alaska State Troopers, the names of the four men will be released once they have been positively identified and next of kin have been notified. Johnson expects a preliminary report on the accident sometime next week.
This is a developing story and may be updated with additional information.