About 15 minutes later, the Alaska State Troopers contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center to report a second aircraft was overdue, Olmstead said.
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Alaska State Troopers say there are “no survivors” after two planes collided over Russian Mission, Alaska on Wednesday, 31 August.
Johnson said he’s receiving conflicting information at this point about the crash and investigators are reviewing the limited radar data available from the area. Where the planes were flying to, and how they collided, is unknown.
The two aircraft were described by an Alaska National Guard spokeswoman as a Cessna carrying three people and a Piper with two people on board, the Anchorage-based Alaska Dispatch News reported.
Mid-air collisions are rare in the USA and most occur near airports.
Johnson says wreckage from both planes landed a considerable distance from each other.
The incident occurred in the skies north of Bethel before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, August 31, according to the Alaska National Guard. The Alaska State Troopers also responded.
KYUK reached out to Renfro’s Alaskan Adventures and Hageland Aviation but could not get a statement.
Russian Mission is a Yup’ik Eskimo village along the Yukon River, about 376 miles west of Anchorage, according to a website for a school in the area.
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The Cessna belonged to Hageland Aviation Services, a regional airline, and the Piper was operated by Renfro’s Alaskan Adventures, she added. Two medics were on board the helicopter.
