A helicopter carrying a pilot and three passengers who had been conducting area work for an Alaskan authorities company crashed on Thursday night time, killing all 4 individuals on board, the National Transportation Safety Board stated on Saturday.
The wreckage of the helicopter, a Bell 206, was present in a big, shallow lake in an especially distant space about 50 miles southwest of Utqiagvik, which is the northernmost group within the United States and residential to about 5,100 residents.
Officials are nonetheless investigating the reason for the crash, the N.T.S.B. stated.
The three state workers on board, whose names haven’t been launched, labored for the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and had been conducting fieldwork close to Utqiagvik, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources stated on Facebook.
The division, which didn’t instantly reply to calls searching for touch upon Saturday, stated that it had initiated a search-and-rescue effort on Thursday night time after these on board the helicopter didn’t examine in as anticipated.
It was not instantly clear if the victims’ our bodies had been recovered.
A rescue and restoration dive crew was deployed into the murky brown lake on Saturday, The Anchorage Daily News reported.
Maritime Helicopters, the corporate that operated the helicopter, stated in an announcement that “the entire Maritime family is deeply saddened by this tragedy and ask that you keep your thoughts and prayers” for the households who misplaced family members.
In April, two U.S. Army helicopters getting back from a coaching flight crashed in Alaska with 4 individuals aboard, killing three troopers and injuring the fourth, Army officers stated.
In March 2021, 5 individuals, together with the Czech Republic’s richest man on the time, had been killed on a heli-skiing tour after their chopper crashed close to a glacier in Alaska, officers stated.
Source: www.nytimes.com