Defense Department names three of Alaska plane crash victims

The U.S. Defense Department on Monday identified three victims of the deadly plane crash that killed eight people Thursday in a remote area of western Alaska. Second Lt. Leah R. Borsich, of the Eleventh Air Force, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees Sabrina Hansen and Hayden Scalis perished in the crash, according to the Defense Department. Their mission was to inspect and maintain a new fire suppression system at a military radar site near the crash area, according to the Corps.

Borsich, 23, was a project programmer stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, the Eleventh Air Force told WORLD. The force described Borsich as a positive, compassionate, and enthusiastic leader. She was from Wickliffe, Ohio, according to a social media post.

Hansen and Scalis were both from Anchorage. Hansen was a fire protection engineer, and Scalis was a mechanical engineer. They were selfless public servants and true professionals, the Corps said.

The names of the five other victims have not been officially released. Two were pilots with Security Aviation, which operated the chartered flight, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Three others were contractors planning to assist in the maintenance operation.

The NTSB is investigating the cause of the accident, which occurred when the plane was attempting to land. Officials said that bad weather conditions and poor visibility likely contributed to the crash, and that the pilots were navigating in fog only using instruments. They conducted a missed landing approach—a common practice used when pilots can’t see the runway from altitude. On a second approach, the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control. A photo from the NTSB showed the plane’s wreckage strewn in small pieces across a rocky hillside near the airstrip.

Dig deeper: Read my initial report on the crash.