2 Dead in Cargo Plane Crash at Yeager Airport

A cargo plane crash landed at Yeager Airport in Charleston just before 7 a.m. Friday, killing the pilot and co-pilot, according to emergency officials. 

Update May 7, 2017- 5:15 P.M.:

Officials have identified the pilot and co-pilot killed in the crash of a propeller plane carrying UPS cargo at a West Virginia airport.

The Air Cargo Carriers plane made a hard landing at Yeager Airport in Charleston and went off the edge of a steep, wooded hillside on Friday. Officials said it had arrived from Louisville, Kentucky.

The airport says in a news release that the victims were identified as 47-year-old Johnathan Pablo Alvarado of Stamford, Texas, and 31-year-old Anh K. Ho of Cross Lanes, West Virginia. Responders had to cut their way through thick brush and trees from above and below to reach the bodies.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

Update May 6, 2017 1:40 P.M.: 

Runway at Yeager Airport is now open.  

Update May 5, 2017 11:40 A.M.: 

Emergency crews were trying to reach the crash site from above and below, Yeager airport spokesman Mike Plante said.

“It’s difficult terrain to negotiate,” Plante said.

Nearly two dozen emergency vehicles lined the runway, which was closed as crews continued to work the scene.

The Air Cargo Carriers plane had departed from Louisville, Kentucky, at 5:43 a.m. and arrived at the Charleston, West Virginia, airport at 6:51 a.m., Plante said. He said the plane was a small, twin-engine turboprop.

Plante said officials have no idea why the plane, which made regular runs to the airport, crashed. The weather in Charleston was sunny and clear.

The airport is closed until at least Saturday morning.

Original story appears below. 
 
A cargo plane crash landed at Yeager Airport in Charleston just before 7 a.m. Friday, killing the pilot and co-pilot, according to emergency officials. Upon landing, the plane skidded off the side of the runway and down a hillside into a wooded area.

According to Kanawha County emergency services, the plane is leaking diesel fuel, which is interrupting cleanup and investigation into what happened.

Yeager Airport officials say the plan was coming from Louisville, Kentucky.

Mike Plante a spokesman for Yeager Airport, told WCHS-TV in Charleston the company that owned the plane was Air Cargo Carriers. The company contracts with UPS.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Chris O’Neil says a six-person investigation team is on their way to Charleston.