Video Shows Alaska Plane Burst Into Flames Before Fatal Crash

A video shared on social media shows the moment a plane burst into flames before crashing in central Alaska on April 23.

A Douglas DC-4 aircraft crashed into the Tanana River shortly after takeoff in the morning from Fairbanks International Airport, authorities said. Two people were onboard and no survivors were found.

The plane slid into a steep hill on the bank of the river and caught fire, said a report by Alaska State Troopers. The crash site was about seven miles south of the airport and people were advised to stay away.

Alaska State Troopers said they responded to the scene alongside multiple agencies, including the Alaska Wildlife Troopers, the University of Alaska Police, Fairbanks Airport Police and Fire, Fairbanks Police Department and two volunteer fire departments.

The video, posted to X by Kerem Inal, a visual verification producer for ABC, shows what appears to be the plane's engine bursting into flames before the aircraft descends and disappears from view behind some trees.

Inal's post said the video was filmed by local farmer Mike Emers, who was one of the first people to reach the crash site. Inal reported that Emer said there was "nothing left."

In an interview with a local media site, Emers described "a big explosion that rocked the ground. And then explosions happened after that."

"There was debris all the way up the hill, maybe 100, 150 feet. Everything was torched there. The forest was on fire," he said.

The AST report said the National Transportation Safety Board was "responding to conduct an investigation into the cause of the crash."

Clint Johnson, chief of the NTSB's Alaska regional office, told the Associated Press that it wasn't clear what happened between the plane taking off and the crash.

It is also unclear what the purpose and destination of the flight was.

In a statement to Newsweek on Wednesday, the NTSB said the plane crashed "under unknown circumstances."

"NTSB investigators are en route to the scene and expected to arrive shortly. Once on scene, they will begin the process of documenting the site and examining the aircraft. Once that work is complete, the aircraft will be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation."

A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration told Newsweek that the NTSB will be the lead agency and provide any updates. The FAA also called the aircraft a C-54, which the spokesperson explained was the same plane as the DC-4, but the military version.

The DC-4 is a four-engine aircraft with propellers, designed in the 1930s by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Almost 80 of the planes remain in commercial service, mostly as freighters, according to www.airliners.net.

In the United States, approximately 1,200 plane crashes occurred in 2021, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. This means that on average, about 3 to 3.5 planes crash per day in the country.

Update 4/24/24, 7:44 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.