Alaska State Troopers reported on Monday that they were notified of an overdue aircraft at 11:15 pm on Sunday night by the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center and immediately launched a search in the last known area in the St. Marys area.

When they searched the area, they discovered the crashed Cessna T207 belonging to yUTE Air approximately one-half mile from the runway. Three male passengers and the pilot were found deceased at the crash site.

Wildlife Troopers and US Fish and Wildlife Officers responded to the crash site and assisted in transporting the remains to the roadway.

The identities of the crash victims will be divulged once they have been positively identified and next of kin have been notified. The pilot and one passenger were off the clock at the time of the crash and another passenger was a former employee of the service.

The National Transportation Safety Board was notified of the incident and will investigate the crash’s cause.

The pilot had asked for Special Visual Flight Rules (VFR) clearance, according to the report weather conditions were deemed unsafe on Sunday night.

UPDATE: The identities of the plane crash victims have been released following next of kin notificati9ons, they have been identified as:

• 23-year-old Ohio resident Mario Gioiello
• 34-year-old Chugiak resident and pilot Scott Grillion
• 44-year-old Sterling resident Benjamin Sweeney
• 25-year-old South Carolina resident Caleb Swortzel

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