No survivors found after small plane crashes in Alaska River

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A Douglas C-54 Skymaster plane carrying two people crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday and caught fire, authorities said. No survivors were found.

The plane took off in the morning from Fairbanks International Airport. It crashed about 7 miles away and “slid down a steep hill on the riverbank, where it caught fire,” according to the Alaska State Troopers.

Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s regional office in Alaska, said it remains unclear what happened between takeoff and the crash, but the tower operator “saw a large plume of smoke.”

Michaela Matherne was flying from the village of Galena to Fairbanks to catch a flight to New Orleans when her small plane was diverted to check the coordinates of the crash site.

“When we were on the air, there was speculation that it was a cabin that caught fire, maybe a fish camp,” she told The Associated Press via Facebook Messenger.

“We actually only knew what we were seeing after we landed, a few minutes later,” she said. “We were shocked and saddened to hear this.”

The C-54 is a military version of the Douglas DC-4, which was a World War II era aircraft. The website www.airlines.net said the standard passenger seat on a DC-4 was 44 during its heyday, but most were converted to freighters.

The Federal Aviation Administration described the plane as a Douglas C-54. Troopers identified it as a DC-4.

The NTSB was sending investigators to the scene, Johnson said.

Further information, such as the purpose and destination of the flight, was not immediately available.