Plane headed for remote Alaska town crashes and kills all four passengers on board

Plane was headed for airport in Seldovia from Anchorage, and was submerged in water after the crash

A small plane carrying four people crashed into shallow waters next to a remote coastal town in Alaska on Wednesday, killing everyone onboard, according to officials.

The Piper PA-24 was headed for the airport in the small town of Seldovia after taking off from Anchorage, according to a statement from the Alaska department of public safety. Seldovia’s airport is about 136 miles (219km) south-west of Anchorage.

After it crashed, it was submerged in about 15ft (4.6 meters) of water in the Seldovia Slough near the shore, said Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region chief. Troopers had to wait until the tide went out in order to reach it.

Troopers were able to get the bodies of the four adults out of the plane. They’re being sent to the medical examiner’s office and their names will not be released until next of kin are notified, according to the department of public safety.

It was not immediately clear what may have caused the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating.

Dan Sullivan, the US senator from Alaska, said he’ll be getting a briefing from the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration as they work to figure out what went wrong.

“These tragedies are heartbreaking and unacceptable, which is why aviation safety and infrastructure in Alaska continue to be a top focus of mine,” he said in a post on Facebook.

Less than a week earlier, another plane crashed at a remote military site in western Alaska, killing all eight people onboard. The aircraft had been making its second runway approach in heavy fog and its pilots could not see the gravel airstrip, authorities said.