The Latest: Investigators head to Alaska plane crash site

By Associated Press 19 October 2019, 12:00AM

UNALASKA, Alaska (AP) — The Latest on a plane that went off the runway while landing at an Aleutian Islands community (all times local):

6:20 a.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team of nine investigators to try to determine why a plane carrying 42 people overran a runway when it was landing at an Aleutian Islands airport.

The NTSB said in a Twitter statement Friday that it was sending the team, following the incident Thursday.

Peninsula Airways says two passengers suffered critical injuries and 10 others were receiving medical care.

A high school swim team was also on the plane but a school official said team members were fine.

The plane was landing at the airport in Unalaska, which is home to Dutch Harbor. It is one of the nation's busiest fishing ports.

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12:20 a.m.

Officials say a plane carrying 42 people including a high school swim team went off the runway while landing at a small Alaska community on the Bering Sea.

Peninsula Airways said in a statement Thursday that two passengers suffered critical injuries and 10 others were receiving medical care.

A school official says the swim team was fine after the 5:40 p.m. incident at the airport in Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says in an email that the plane operated by Peninsula Airways went off the end of the runway under unknown circumstances.

Kenitzer says local authorities reported three crew members on board and 38 passengers, but the airline said 39 passengers were on board.

Unalaska is home to Dutch Harbor. It is one of the nation's busiest fishing ports.

By Associated Press 19 October 2019, 12:00AM
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