NTSB: Ravn Connect plane crashes near Atqasuk, pilot survives

A Ravn Connect plane has crashed near Atqasuk near Alaska's north slope, according to an NTSB investigator and the company.

Mike Hodges, an aviation accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, says preliminary information shows that the pilot -- the Cessna 208's sole occupant -- survived and is communicating with North Slope Borough rescuers heading to the scene. A statement from the company said the pilot is uninjured.

The reported site of the crash is about 2 miles north of the village of Atqasuk, which is about 60 miles southwest of Barrow, or Utqiagvik.

The company issued a statement Wednesday morning, saying the plane was "forced to land approximately 3 miles short of the village runway for reasons that are unknown at this time."

The company said there were no passengers in the plane and that the pilot was not injured.

The crash comes a day after a subsidiary of Ravn Alaska, Hageland Aviation, was faulted for lax training procedures in a fatal crash from 2016.