Next of kin notifications have been completed, and the identities of the four individuals killed in a plane crash near St Mary have been released. Among the dead was 44-year-old Sterling resident Ben Sweeney.
Also identified in the crash were the 34-year-old pilot Scott Grillion of Chugiak, 23-year-old Mario Gioiello of Ohio, and 25-year-old Caleb Swortzel of South Carolina.
Alaska State Troopers reported that they received a notification about an overdue aircraft at around 11:15 p.m. on Sunday from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. Troopers responding to the plane’s last known location discovered the wreckage and the bodies of four men, according to the agency.
Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region, stated that the plane, which took off from Bethel, was operated by Yute Commuter Service and was thought to be carrying at least two company employees. An NTSB investigator is expected to arrive in Anchorage on Monday and travel to the crash site on Tuesday, weather permitting, Johnson added.
The plane went down roughly half a mile from the St. Mary’s runway just after 10 p.m.
The group had just set out for a moose hunt in Southwest Alaska, departing Bethel for St. Mary’s around 8:30 or 9 p.m. on Sunday, said Johnson. Grillion received special clearance under Visual Flight Rules, which permits pilots to land in worsening weather conditions.
