Commuter plane crash reported in Alaska Bering Sea community

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Commuter plane crash reported in Alaska Bering Sea community

2019-10-18 14:51 Last Updated At：15:00

A commuter airplane carrying 38 passengers, including a high school swim team, went off the runway while landing Thursday at a small Alaska community on the Bering Sea.

The extent of injuries was not known, but a school official said the swim team was fine and eating pizza shortly after the incident about 5 p.m. at the airport in Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands. Unalaska is home to Dutch Harbor, one of the nation's busiest fishing ports.

A SAAB-Scania 2000 operated by Peninsula Airways, or PenAir, went off the end of the runway under unknown circumstances, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said in an email to The Associated Press. He said local authorities reported three crew members on board in addition to the passengers.

The airline did not have immediate comment, and the Unalaska police department was not taking calling from the media.

Clint Johnson, head of the Alaska region of the National Transportation Safety Board, didn't return messages left on his cellphone Thursday. However, he told Anchorage television station KTUU that he could not immediately say whether anyone died in the crash, citing the need for better investigation of the crash site hundreds of miles from Anchorage.

"We've got a major investigation going here, and there's all sorts of rumors going around," he said. "We're trying to get an investigator down, and the rest of the team will be coming from Washington, D.C."

Messages left with the National Transportation Safety Board were not immediately returned Thursday.

An eyewitness said the flight from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor landed about 500 feet (150 meters) beyond the airport, near the water. Social media posts show the plane's nose hanging over a rock embankment, but not in the water.

Unalaska police, fire and ambulance crews were at the airport assisting the passengers, who appeared unharmed, the eyewitness, freelance photographer Jim Paulin, told The Associated Press. Some passengers were transported from the airport in an ambulance, but others left with the assistance of residents, including families who planned to host the visiting swimmers.

The plane appeared to have been forced beyond its planned landing area by high winds the community has been experiencing recently, Paulin said.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said in a statement that the Unalaska and Dutch Harbor Airport has been closed and transportation department airport rescue and fire personnel have responded to the scene.

The plane was carrying members of a high school swimming team from Cordova, City Manager Erin Reinders said. She said she is also the local swim coach and was at the airport waiting to greet the team from Cordova.

A statement posted on the Cordova School District's website said the flight carrying swimmers and their chaperones experienced difficulty stopping on the airport runway.

"At present, all students and chaperones are accounted for and are OK, albeit a bit shaken up," said the statement by Cordova Superintendent Alex Russin.

Russin said he spoke with Unalaska City School District Superintendent John P. Conwell, who assured him the students were safe.

"I spoke again with Superintendent Conwell who stated that the team was together, seemed fine, and were eating pizza. Mr. Conwell assured me repeatedly that the students would be well looked after and taken care of," Russin said.

Unalaska is about 825 miles (1,330 kilometers) west of Anchorage.

Associated Press writer Brian Hannon contributed to this report.

Blinken, in Shanghai, begins expected contentious talks with Chinese officials

2024-04-25 11:27 Last Updated At：11:40

SHANGHAI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his first full day of meetings in China on Thursday by talking with local government officials in Shanghai.

Blinken discussed local and regional issues with Chen Jining, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai. He also planned to speak to students and business leaders before flying to Beijing for what are expected to be contentious talks with national officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday shortly before President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger the Chinese, including $8 billion to counter China’s growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. It also seeks to force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform.

China has railed against U.S. assistance to Taiwan, the self-governing island that it regards as a renegade province, and immediately condemned the move as a dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force TikTok’s sale.

Still, the fact that Blinken made the trip — shortly after a conversation between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a call between the U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs — is a sign the two sides are at least willing to discuss their differences.

“I think it’s important to underscore the value — in fact, the necessity — of direct engagement, of speaking to each other, laying out our differences, which are real, seeking to work through them,” Blinken told Chen.

“We have an obligation for our people, indeed an obligation to the world, to manage the relationship between our two countries responsibly,” he said. “That is the obligation we have, and one that we take very seriously.”

Chen agreed with that sentiment and said the recent Biden-Xi call had helped the “stable and healthy development of our two countries’ relationship.”

“Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the well-being of both peoples, both countries, and the future of humanity” he said.

Chen added that he hoped Blinken was able to get a “deep impression and understanding” of Shanghai.

Shortly after arriving, Blinken attended a Chinese basketball playoff game between the local Shanghai Sharks and the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, with the home team losing in the last seconds in 121-120 nailbiter.