Global Courant
It is unlikely that four people in a helicopter chartered by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources survived after it crashed into a remote lake, a federal transportation official said Sunday.
The fate of the four, including three employees of the state’s geographic survey, was “presumed fatal,” National Transportation Board spokesman Keith Holloway said by email.
The crash happened around 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the NTSB, which was investigating why it happened.
Efforts to recover wreckage and remains in a large, remote lake 51 miles southwest of Utqiaġvik were planned, Holloway said. The city claims to be the northernmost community in the United States.
An Alaska State Troopers spokesman said volunteers from the Alaska Dive Search, Rescue and Recovery Team had been activated and were on their way to assist local crews, the North Slope Borough Search and Rescue Team, with recovery.
In a statement Friday, the State Department of Natural Resources said its three employees were conducting aerial fieldwork when the helicopter crashed.
“DNR is praying for our employees and the pilot, their families and the DNR team,” the Department of Natural Resources said.
NBC affiliate KTUU of Anchorage described the helicopter as a Bell 206L-4 operated by Maritime Helicopters in Homer.
The NTSB’s Holloway said investigators would examine salvaged wreckage, query air traffic communications, review radar data, read weather reports and speak with potential witnesses.
The helicopter’s maintenance records, pilots’ medical records and flight history will also be requested, he said.
A National Weather Service weather station at Wiley Post-Will Rogers Memorial Airport in Utqiaġvik reported fog from shortly before 4 p.m. to about 11 p.m. Thursday.
