ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A federal investigator looking into a fatal plane crash in Alaska said Monday one of the four survivors told him the small aircraft struck the side of a mountain in fog so thick, it created whiteout conditions.
The single-engine Cessna was carrying all three teachers for the tiny Athabascan village of Anvik when it went down Saturday night in the wilderness, killing one of the teachers just days before classes were set to begin. The pilot also died.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson said he spoke Monday with survivor Don Evans, a new teacher along with his wife, Rosemarie, who also survived. Evans told Johnson that 20 minutes into the flight the plane ran into a cloud ceiling, then struck the mountain.
Anvik and the other six schools in the Iditarod School District are delaying the start of classes, which were to have started Wednesday.
Shock and grief has rippled through the district, which covers a region slightly larger than Ohio. Even though communities in the district are not linked by road, everyone knows practically everyone and many people are related. People travel by river, winter trails or small planes for gatherings and other activities. Students sometimes get to know teachers and each other through videoconferencing classes, district workers said.
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