ANCHORAGE, AK — The National Transportation Safety Board says worsening fog and very low visibility were factors during the final minutes before a deadly plane crash at Cape Newenham in Southwest Alaska. A preliminary report released Wednesday does not name a cause, but it says the Cessna 441 Conquest made two landing attempts before crashing in mountainous terrain west of the runway on Aug. 20.
All eight people aboard were killed. The aircraft was chartered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and operated by Anchorage-based Security Aviation. Investigators say the plane was heading to a military radar site about 450 miles west of Anchorage when conditions on the ground and in the air became increasingly difficult.
Crew made repeated requests to delay landing as conditions worsened
NTSB lead investigator Eric Gutierrez said the agency is still collecting weather data, pilot records and maintenance information. He emphasized that the case is still in the fact-finding stage and that preliminary information can change as more evidence comes in.
According to the report, the pilots were communicating with air traffic controllers in Anchorage and asked several times to delay their landing. After one missed approach, the flight crew told a technician at the radar site that they wanted to divert to Platinum Airport, about 23 miles north of Cape Newenham.
When they could not reach Platinum by radio, they decided to try Cape Newenham again. By then, conditions had deteriorated further, and the ground technician said the runway was no longer visible from a nearby weather building.
Visibility dropped to the point where runway markers disappeared
Workers at the radar site described thick fog before the crash. One technician inspected the runway earlier in the morning but was unable to make a second check before the landing because fog had blanketed the area.
A different technician said low visibility and fog were present during each of the plane’s approaches. By the time the aircraft began its second attempt, the technician said none of the visibility reference points could be seen.
The report says that shortly afterward, the technician heard the engines throttle up, then a backfire, and then silence. Staff later found the wreckage about half a mile west of the runway’s approach end.
The crash happened at a remote radar site built for difficult Alaska airspace
The plane was carrying personnel from several organizations to the long-range radar site at Cape Newenham, which is part of a network that monitors aircraft operating in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders. The mission highlights how remote and weather-sensitive the location is for aviation.
The passengers included Army Corps employees Sabrina Hansen and Hayden Scalis; U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Leah Borsich; Trevor McWilliams of Yukon Fire Protection Services; and Brice Joseph “Joe” Palmer and Tom Fisher, both employees of Calista Corporation subsidiary Calista. Security Aviation identified the pilots as Captain Dave Furber and first officer Sergei Zelenkov.
Military aircraft responded on the day of the crash and confirmed that there were no survivors. The wreckage remains at the site while investigators continue their work.
Investigators say Cape Newenham’s runway terrain adds major risk
The preliminary report also discusses the challenges of landing at Cape Newenham using instruments alone. The runway sits on a slope with mountains on both sides, and the NTSB says it would be “improbable” to recover from a missed approach beyond a certain point.
Gutierrez said the difficult access and terrain are part of the reason the wreckage has not yet been recovered. He said the NTSB hopes to issue a final report within 18 months.
The findings do not yet explain exactly what caused the crash, but they show investigators are focusing on the combination of weather, visibility and terrain as they reconstruct the flight.
Deadliest Alaska crash since February 2025 as more fatal wrecks followed
The Cape Newenham disaster was the deadliest airplane crash in Alaska since a Bering Air crash killed all 10 people aboard in February 2025. It also came during a deadly stretch for the state’s aviation community.
Four people died in a plane crash in the Kenai Peninsula community of Seldovia on Aug. 26, just days after the Cape Newenham wreck. Two more people were killed in a crash near Aniak on Sept. 15, according to the updated correction in the Alaska Public Media report.
Those back-to-back crashes have added urgency to the state’s broader conversation about air safety, especially in remote areas where weather can change quickly and landing options are limited.
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