SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- One passenger was killed in the crash of an aircraft carrying 42 people that skidded off the runway late Thursday at an airport in Unalaska, a city in the Aleutian Islands, U.S. state of Alaska, authorities said Friday.
The Unalaska Department of Public Safety (UDPS) said the person "died of traumatic injuries suffered in the crash."
It said the Unalaska Fire Department transported seven patients to the Iliuliuk Clinic, a family and health service in the city, where four other patients arrived by personal vehicle.
"Patient injuries ranged from minor to critical," said the UDPS, with one patient medevaced to Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska.
The Anchorage Daily News (ADN) identified the dead as David Allan Oltman, a 38-year-old man from Washington state.
The SAAB-Scania 2000 twin engine turboprop jet of Peninsula Airways (PenAir) went off the runway during an attempted landing at the airport at Dutch Harbor in the Alaska state, the ADN reported.
Alaska Airlines said PenAir Flight 3296, which flew from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, was marketed by the company, although the aircraft was operated by PenAir and the crew were PenAir employees.
The plane was carrying 39 passengers and three crew members, said Alaska Airlines.
According to the ADN report, a high school swim team from the Alaska community of Cordova was on board the plane and remained fine after the crash.
It quoted an eyewitness as saying that the aircraft slid off the runway about 150 meters beyond the airport, with the plane's nose hanging over a rock embankment.
The cause of the incident is still under investigation.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) tweeted Friday that it had dispatched experts to Alaska to probe the air crash.
"NTSB sending team of 9 to Unalaska, AK to investigate Oct. 17, 2019, accident involving Peninsula Air #3296, Saab SB20, that overran runway on landing. More information will be released when available," it said in the tweet.
The UDPS said the runway and vehicle traffic through the impact area has been closed as the aircraft "may still pose safety risks."
