Helicopter crashes during rescue operation in Alaska, killing 3

USPA News - An Alaska State Troopers helicopter crashed Saturday night during a rescue operation in the south-central part of the state, killing two troopers and a rescued snowmobiler, state and federal officials said on Sunday. There were no survivors.

The accident happened at around 11:17 p.m. local time on Saturday when the Eurocopter AS350 B3 aircraft went down about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) east of Talkeetna in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, or about 77 miles (124 kilometers) north of Anchorage. It was carrying three people. Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said it launched a rescue mission at around 7:35 p.m. local time on Saturday after its detachment in Palmer received a report of a stranded snowmobiler near Larson Lake, which is located about 6.5 miles (10.5 kilometers) east of Talkeetna. Peters said Helo 1 responded and, after picking up a trooper, proceeded to the search area where they located the snowmobiler at around 9:58 p.m. local time. "At approximately 2317 hours, Helo 1 was en-route to Sunshine Tesoro to meet with medics, but never arrived," she said. "Contact with Helo 1 was lost and a search and rescue was initiated." An aircraft from the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC), which is operated by the Alaska Air National Guard, located the wreckage of the helicopter at around 9:33 a.m. on Sunday. "[The aircraft] searched for survivors, but none were found," the spokeswoman said, giving no other details. The cause of Saturday`s accident was not immediately known, but Peters said an investigation is underway. Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the crash. "NTSB is the lead investigative agency," he said.