Three thought to be dead after helicopter crash in Alaska

GlobalPost

Three people are thought to be dead after an Alaska State Trooper search and rescue helicopter went down near Talkeetna, a small community located north of Anchorage.

The rescue helicopter had been deployed to search for a lost snowmobiler, who is thought to have perished with an agency pilot and a state trooper in the helicopter crash.

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Rescuers were sent to find a snowmobiler stranded on Larson Lake, located not from from Talkeetna, who was located and taken aboard the helicopter when the crash took place.

The crash occurred in the evening, wrote KTUU.com, which added that the crash site — reportedly with no survivors — was located early on March 31. The identities of the dead remain withheld.

The wreckage appears to have burned, and it remains unknown if inclement weather was a factor in the helicopter crash.

"This is a huge, profound tragedy for us," said Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters to Fox.

"We can replace the helicopter but we can't replace what went down with it," she said. "It's been a bad day."


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