At least 4 dead in Alaska plane crash

BIRCHWOOD, Alaska, May 27 (UPI) -- At least four people died when a small plane crashed Friday at the Birchwood airport in Alaska, fire officials said.

Virginia McMichael, the assistant chief of the Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department, told KTUU.com rescuers were called to the airport at 10:15 a.m. after witnesses reported seeing the Cessna 180 crash and explode on Alaska Railroad tracks near the airport.

The stations said it was unclear whether there were four or five people aboard the plane, but there were no survivors.

Alaska Railroad officials said the tracks would be closed for a few hours while National Transportation Safety Board investigators combed through the wreckage.