A young Air Force officer and two Army Corps of Engineers civilians were among eight people killed when a contracted aircraft crashed near a remote radar installation in Western Alaska.
The Aug. 20 disaster claimed everyone aboard, including two pilots and six passengers.
Second Lt. Leah R. Borsich, 23, served as a project programmer with the 611th Civil Engineer Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Anchorage.
She was supporting the demanding mission of maintaining American military infrastructure across Alaska’s vast and unforgiving terrain.
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“Lt. Borsich was a positive leader who brought tremendous energy and enthusiasm to our command,” Col. Timothey Meerstein, commander of Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center, said in the release.
“She led with professionalism, compassion and purpose, and her presence strengthened the bonds between the people around her. She made a lasting impact on our team, and we are grateful for her service and commitment to our nation.”
The civilian contracted aircraft went down at Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site Airport, approximately 450 miles west southwest of Anchorage.
The flight had been chartered by the Army Corps of Engineers and was operated by Security Aviation.
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An Alaska Air National Guard HH 60W Jolly Green II reached the area near the crash site with support from an HC-130J Combat King II.
Personnel assigned to the 212th Rescue Squadron at Elmendorf Richardson then confirmed that there were no survivors.
The victims also included Sabrina Hansen and Hayden Scalis, two Army Corps of Engineers employees from Anchorage.
Both worked in the Alaska District’s Engineering Division and were carrying out official duties in support of the Air Force when the aircraft crashed.
Hansen served as a fire protection engineer, while Scalis worked as a mechanical engineer.
They were conducting a routine project site visit to inspect and perform maintenance on a new fire suppression system at the isolated installation.
“We mourn the tragic loss of our selfless teammates. They were public servants and true professionals, dedicated to securing our nation,” Lt. Gen. William H. Graham, 56th Chief of Engineers and USACE commanding general, said in the release.
“Our thoughts are with their families and colleagues during this time of immeasurable loss.”
Clint Johnson, Alaska region chief for the National Transportation Safety Board, identified the aircraft as a Cessna 441. Preliminary information indicates the crew conducted a missed approach before attempting to reach the remote runway a second time.
“What I mean by missed approach is this airplane was operating in IFR or instrument meteorological conditions, which means the pilot or the pilots in this case were navigating solely by instruments,” Johnson said.
“Weather conditions would not allow them to actually visually see the ground.”
Anchorage Center lost contact with the aircraft following the second approach, prompting authorities to begin a search.
Poor weather complicated those efforts and delayed the discovery of the wreckage until late in the afternoon.
The crash occurred at approximately 11:45 a.m. local time, according to investigators.
Search personnel eventually located the wreckage in rising terrain roughly one third of a mile west of the runway the pilots had been trying to reach.
Johnson said there was a fire after the aircraft struck the ground. Investigators have not yet announced a probable cause, and the sequence of events leading to the crash remains under formal review.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation with assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration and potentially Security Aviation.
Investigators will examine weather conditions, aircraft performance, crew actions, communications and other available evidence before issuing their findings.
Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site is managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center.
It belongs to a network of isolated radar stations that monitor aircraft moving through Alaska’s airspace and along a strategically critical section of the nation’s border.
Those remote facilities are essential to homeland security, but supporting them requires military members, civilian specialists and aircrews to operate in some of America’s most difficult conditions.
Borsich, Hansen, Scalis and the five others aboard were serving that mission when their flight ended in tragedy.
The loss has struck both the Air Force and Army Corps communities, whose personnel routinely work together to sustain installations far from Alaska’s population centers.
Their service represented the quiet, serious work required to protect the country, and their deaths leave families, colleagues and fellow public servants mourning eight lives cut short.
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