Cessna 441 Crashes on Second Landing Attempt in Fog at Remote Alaska Radar Site, Killing All 8 Aboard
Eight people died when a Cessna 441 crashed about one-third of a mile from the runway at the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site on Thursday, August 20, 2026, according to wdio.com.
By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 21, 2026, 9:42 a.m. ETWritten Sep 10, 2026, 7:24 a.m. ET
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We last searched for new coverage of this at Sep 10, 2026, 7:41 a.m. ET — checked 1h ago.
people died when a crashed about one-third of a mile (0.5 kilometers) from the runway at the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site in Alaska on Thursday, August 20, 2026, according to wdio.com. The crash occurred during the phase of flight, the outlet reported. The event is developing and the investigation is open.
According to wdio.com, the Cessna's two pilots could not see the gravel airstrip and were flying solely by instruments when the plane crashed. Regulations required that the pilots abort their first landing attempt because of the lack of visibility, and the plane crashed on its second attempt, the outlet reported. On board were the pilots, two employees of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and four contractors, according to wdio.com. Two of the contractors were employees of Calista Brice, a subsidiary of Calista Corp., an Alaska Native regional corporation, the outlet reported. The military has not said what work they were performing at the site, according to wdio.com.
An automated observation system not far from the airport reported a low cloud ceiling, fog and visibility of about 10 miles (16 kilometers) in the minutes before the crash, but the next update about 15 minutes after it showed visibility of less than one-quarter mile (0.40 kilometers), according to wdio.com. Mike O'Donnell, who oversaw airport safety programs and accident investigations for much of his 17 years at FAA, said it sounded as if weather conditions were bad enough that the pilots should have diverted and landed somewhere else, wdio.com reported.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, and NTSB investigators were traveling to the scene Friday, according to wdio.com. The cause has not been determined. The airstrip is at a private military site managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center, and the runway is surrounded by mountainous terrain on three sides, according to wdio.com. The radar site was built in the 1950s as part of a network designed to provide early warning of a missile attack by the Soviet Union, and the outpost at Cape Newenham closed in 1983 after a new radar was installed, the outlet reported. The site is about 450 miles (725 kilometers) west of on Alaska's southwest coast, according to wdio.com.
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