Four people are feared dead after a helicopter plunged into a mile-wide lake in Alaska.
The Mirror reports rescue and recovery dive team are searching after a helicopter with a pilot and three state workers crashed into a large lake on Alaska’s North Slope.
Officials say no survivors have yet been located.
Clint Johnson, the chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region, said: “The official word is, they are missing, presumed fatal.”
An NTSB investigator was also en route to the accident scene Saturday as plans were being made to recover the wreckage from the water, he said.
Although, challenges with the crash site and availability of another chopper mean the aircraft is unlikely to be raised from the middle of the lake until Monday or Tuesday, said Johnson.
The downed helicopter had been chartered by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the department said in a statement Friday. It was carrying three employees from the Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey who had been conducting field work.
“DNR is praying for our employees and the pilot, their families, and the DNR team,” the statement said.
“We are continuing to await updates from the search and rescue effort.”
John Boyle, Natural Resources Commissioner, flew to the crash site on Friday with a North Slope Search and Rescue spotter ahead of the recovery operation, said Lorraine Henry, a spokesperson for the state agency. The Bell 206 was first reported as overdue on Thursday.
A North Slope Borough search and rescue team in a helicopter found debris matching the description of the missing helicopter, DJ Fauske, the borough’s director of government and external affairs, said.
The copter’s wreckage was found in the lake close to Wainwright, which is about 50 miles south of Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in the US, formerly known as Barrow
Johnson says another helicopter will be needed to pull the aircraft out of the water, beause of where it came to rest. He said: “This is going to be a helicopter recovery, no ifs, no ands, no buts, out in the middle of no place.”
Because the site is hundreds of miles north of Anchorage, it means helicopters are hard to come by. The official added: “The helicopters up here are at an absolute premium.”
Also complicating matters is that from the photographs he’s seen of the submerged helicopter, it’s in fragments, Johnson said.
The North Slope Borough requested that the Alaska State Troopers activate the Alaska Dive Search, Rescue and Recovery Team, troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel said.
The team was en route Saturday to Utqiagvik, located on the coast of the Arctic Ocean about 720 miles northwest of Anchorage.
The borough is the primary agency coordinating efforts at the crash site, McDaniel said.
The helicopter flight originated in Utqiagvik and was supposed to return there, Johnson said, adding other details of the flight were not immediately available.
The helicopter was operated by Maritime Helicopters Inc., according to a statement on the company’s website. It confirmed the accident was fatal and said names of the pilot and passengers would be released pending notification of next of kin.
