Two people were critically injured and 10 others injured Thursday evening when a plane carrying 42 people — including a high school swim team — overshot a runway in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, according to reports.
Alaska Airlines Flight 3296 — a Saab 2000 turboprop operated by Peninsula Airways, or PenAir — ran off the runway at Unalaska’s airport about 5:40 p.m. after a flight from Anchorage, according to KUCB.
The propeller blades of one of the engines broke off, puncturing the fuselage of the plane, which came to rest on a rocky surface at the edge of a bay in the Bering Sea, according to Aviation-Safety.net.
Unalaska is home to Dutch Harbor, one of the nation’s busiest fishing ports, and is about 825 miles west of Anchorage.
Among the 39 passengers were members of the swim team at the high school in Cordova, who were going to a meet, the news outlet reported. None of them were hurt in the incident.
“At present, all students and chaperones are accounted for and are OK, albeit a bit shaken up,” read a statement posted by schools Superintendent Alex Russin on the district’s website Thursday night.
The statement added that “the team was together, seemed fine, and were eating pizza.”
In a subsequent message, Russin expressed the district’s “deep appreciation” to its Unalaska counterpart and to community members and agencies “who have made our students and chaperones as comfortable as possible through their generosity, kind words, clothing, food, and support.”
PenAir — which is owned by Ravn Air Group — said it’s cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board and has established a family assistance line.
“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,” PenAir CEO Dave Pflieger said in a statement.
An eyewitness said the flight landed about 500 feet beyond the Dutch Harbor airport, near the water. Some passengers were removed from the airport in an ambulance, but others left with the assistance of residents, including families who planned to host the visiting swimmers.
The plane appeared to have been affected by high winds, freelance photographer Jim Paulin said.
With Post wires