A civilian plane flying over the freezing Alaskan coast went down near a long-range military radar station. The military says all eight people on board were killed, leaving rescuers to pick up the pieces in one of the most unforgiving environments on earth.
You get on a small plane in Anchorage, expecting a routine flight out to a remote work site. But 450 miles out over the harsh, freezing Alaskan coast, things go terribly wrong. On Thursday afternoon, a civilian-contracted plane crashed near Cape Newenham, a long-range radar site on the state’s south-west coast.
When rescue crews finally reached the wreckage, the news was grim. They confirmed there were absolutely no survivors at the crash site. The National Transportation Safety Board says there were two pilots and six passengers on board.
The military is feeling the heavy loss. Lieutenant General Robert Davis, who runs the Air Force’s Alaskan Command, called the victims “dedicated professionals carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment.”
“This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” Davis said in a statement. He added that their main focus right now is supporting the grieving families and thanked the search teams out in the field for their swift and tireless response.
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Cape Newenham is not a normal holiday destination. It is part of a quiet, isolated network of radar stations constantly watching the cold, dark skies over Alaska. The exact reason these eight people were flying out there is still being kept quiet while officials notify their next of kin.
The remote radar station will keep running, scanning the northern sky for threats. But for eight families waiting for a phone call that they already know is coming, the world just stopped turning.
