Four dead in commuter plane crash in St. Mary's, third fatal plane crash in three days in Alaska

Four people crashed aboard a Yute Commuter Service plane from Bethel to St. Mary's just off the St. Mary's runway on Sunday evening. All passengers died.

The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center contacted Alaska State Troopers about the overdue aircraft. Alaska State Troopers, based in St. Mary's, went to the last known location of the aircraft and found the downed Cessna T207 and four dead adult males at the wreckage site, approximately one-half mile from the runway.

Wildlife Troopers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Officers helped move the men's bodies to the road so they could be taken to the State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. The identities of the deceased men will be released once they are positively identified and next of kin are notified, the Troopers said in a statement.

It was the third fatal plane crash in three days in the state. On Friday, two people died when their plane crashed into Tustemena Lake on the Kenai Peninsula, and on Saturday, a pilot of an experimental plane crashed in Wasilla. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate all three crashes.