Small plane crash at Alaska airport kills 10 people

SOLDOTNA, ALASKA (BNO NEWS) -- A local pilot and nine passengers from South Carolina were killed Sunday when their small plane crashed at an airport in the U.S. state of Alaska, police said on Monday, but the cause of the crash was not immediately known. There were no survivors.

The accident happened at around 11:20 a.m. local time on Sunday when a fixed-wing single-engine de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter aircraft crashed at Soldotna Airport near Funny River road, located about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula.

First responders arrived at the scene and found the aircraft fully engulfed, and the flames were put out by firefighters from the Central Emergency Services (CES). Authorities later confirmed that a total of 10 people were killed, including a local pilot and nine passengers believed to be from South Carolina.

"All the remains have been recovered and sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsy and positive identification," said Officer Mark Berestoff of the Soldotna Police Department (SPD). "SPD is working diligently with South Carolina authorities to identify and locate the probable next of kin."

The cause of the accident was not immediately known, but weather did not appear to have been an issue as conditions were reported to be cloudy with a light wind.

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