Alaska State Troopers identified the victims of Saturday night's rescue helicopter crash during a press conference at the Tudor Road headquarters Monday afternoon.

The dead have been tenatively identified as 50-year-old Mel Nading, an Anchorage-based pilot, 40-year-old Trooper Tage Toll and the man the helicopter went out to rescue, Carl Ober. A positive identification has not yet been made and is awaiting results of an examination of the remains that were recovered from the helicopter crash site.

The State Troopers Helo-1 helicopter was dispatched after a report came in at about 7:30 pm on Saturday night. The helicopter stopped to pick up Trooper Toll and then proceeded to the area that Ober was at. It was reported that Ober was located and picked up by the helicopter at about 10 pm and the helicopter was last heard from about an hour later when it was reported that the helicopter was returning to the Sunshine Tesoro to drop Ober off to waiting medics.

The helicopter never arrived. Later the FAA would notify the Alaska Air National Guard who was able to begin their search at approximately 5 am. Searchers located the crash site mid-morning on Sunday.

The Alaska Air National Guard assisted in the recovery of the men’s bodies. They were then taken from Palmer to the State Medical Examiner’s office in Anchorage.

NTSB Investigator Clint Johnson said outside incvestigators will fly to Alaska to carry out the investigation as to the cause of the crash.