At least two people were critically injured when a commercial plane skidded off the runway at Alaska’s Unalaska Airport on Thursday evening, according to KTUU.
The Saab 2000 aircraft was carrying 39 passengers, including members of a high school swimming team, and three crew members when it went off the runway around 5:40 p.m. local time Thursday. The flight was being operated by PenAir, a regional airline based in Anchorage that currently has a codesharing agreement with Alaska Airlines.
The airline confirmed that “two passengers were critically injured and ten others are receiving medical care in Unalaska,” in a news release issued late Thursday. “All other passengers are being cared for.”
The PR firm representing PenAir said in a statement released around 11 p.m. Thursday that two passengers were critically injured and 10 others are receiving medical care in Unalaska after a plane nearly flew off the runway upon landing at Unalaska Airport.
Photo by David Howard. pic.twitter.com/qmxSmnvunK— Beth Verge (@ktuubeth) October 18, 2019
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our passengers and crew, and the family members of everyone with loved ones on this flight,” added the company’s CEO Dave Pflieger.
Alex Russin, superintendent of schools in Cordova, Alaska, told CNN that “all students and chaperones are accounted for and OK.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the accident.
“We’ve got a major investigation going here,” said Clint Johnson of the NTSB via KTUU. “We’re trying to get an investigator down, and the rest of the team will be coming from Washington, D.C.”
