Mid-air collisions are rare in the United States and most occur near airports.
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“Basically what it comes down to is see and avoid, however in this case, we don’t know what circumstances lead up to this mid-air collision”, Johnson said.
The crash scene covers a large area that is accessible only by helicopter, said Clint Johnson, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska division.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center received a report of an overdue aircraft at about 11 a.m. and a second report later in the day.
The two planes collided northwest of Russian Mission. Crews in another airplane spotted wreckage on the ground.
A string of crashes in 2013 and 2014 placed Hageland under close scrutiny, the Dispatch reported, but improvements have been made, and Johnson said the company’s troubles are “in the past”.
Around noon, the National Guard dispatched a Black Hawk helicopter carrying two flight medics from Bethel to the crash site.
Alaska State Troopers said in a statement that rescue workers searching the crash site found no survivors aboard either aircraft, and said an investigation was continuing. Alaska State Troopers were also en route.
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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In an email, the National Guard said the airplanes were a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Super Cub from Renfro’s Alaskan Adventures carrying two people.
