By Becky Bohrer
The Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska — One person died after a commuter airplane went off the end of a runway while landing at an airport in the remote Aleutian Islands fishing community of Unalaska, authorities said.
Alaska State Troopers identified the victim Friday as David Allan Oltman, 38, of Wenatchee.
The plane, operated by Peninsula Airways, or PenAir, left Anchorage around 3:15 p.m. Thursday with 42 people onboard, including 39 passengers and three crew members, a statement from the company said. One passenger was a child younger than 2, said Clint Johnson, chief of the Alaska region for the National Transportation Safety Board.
The flight landed around 5:40 p.m. and went off the end of the runway. PenAir is owned by Ravn Air Group and said it is cooperating with federal investigators.
“On behalf of PenAir, Ravn Air Group and all our employees throughout the company, we would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and loved ones of our passenger who passed away,” Dave Pflieger, president of Ravn Air Group, said in a statement.
Johnson said a team of nine NTSB investigators were expected in Anchorage late Friday. Some members would remain in Anchorage while others traveled to Unalaska early Saturday, he said. Additionally, an agency investigator from Alaska was on scene as the flight data and cockpit voice recorders were removed from the plane, he said.
The city, in a statement, said responders arrived at the scene within five minutes of the crash. It said 11 people were taken to a local clinic with injuries ranging from minor to critical. That number included the man who died and another person who was flown to Anchorage for medical care.
City Clerk Marjie Veeder said she was told by the head of the local first responders that the flight manifest was 39 people onboard. Told of the discrepancy regarding the number of people on the plane, Debbie Reinwand, a media contact for PenAir, did not comment on the manifest but reiterated company statements saying there were 42 onboard.
Law enforcement has secured the scene pending the arrival of NTSB investigators, the city said.
Unalaska is about 825 miles southwest of Anchorage.
