Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said the survivors were flown to an Anchorage hospital.
Ladegard said the two who died were Julie Walker, a lifelong Anvik resident and longtime teacher in the village, and the pilot, Ernie Chase, who was originally from Anvik. The Cessna departed Saturday evening from McGrath, about 225 miles northwest of Anchorage. The plane was headed to Anvik, about 140 miles to the west.
Later Saturday night, a personal spot beacon transmitting a 911 signal was activated, showing the plane 37 miles west of McGrath. The Alaska National Guard's Rescue Coordination Center in Anchorage coordinated the ensuing search, which was hampered by poor weather, Guard officials said.
Morgan said the plane crashed in hilly, rough terrain. The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
On July 30, an Anchorage pilot and his family died in a collision between their single-engine plane and another aircraft around Amber Lake near Trapper Creek, 80 miles north of Anchorage. Troopers got an emergency call from Inland Aviation, the private company that owns the plane, on Saturday night, she said.
But rescuers could not reach the crash site until Sunday morning due to bad weather, Ipsen said.
Attempts were made to reach the site overnight by the Alaska National Guard, Inland and commercial planes, she said.
An Alaska National Guard helicopter finally reached the site on Sunday, Ipsen said.
A longtime teacher and a veteran bush pilot died Saturday evening in a plane crash on a flight from McGrath to Anvik, while four others on board survived, Alaska State Troopers said Sunday.
Killed were teacher Julia Walker, 52, of Anvik, and pilot Ernest Chase, 66, of Aniak, troopers said Sunday night.
The plane was carrying all three teachers from the Anvik school in the Iditarod School District, including a husband and wife new to the village who had been set to begin their first year of teaching, said Karen Ladegard, district superintendent. The couple's children also were on the plane.
That family -- parents Don and Rosemarie Evans, both 32, and children Donny, 10, and McKenzie, 8 -- survived the crash, troopers said. Troopers initially said four people died but that report was incorrect, trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.
Alaska Air National Guard crews led the rescue and recovery effort, which was hampered by bad weather, according to troopers and the Air Guard.
POOR WEATHER
The plane was a single-engine Cessna 207 operated by Aniak-based Inland Aviation Services, Ipsen said. "We've been scrambling all night to get the rescue planes out there," Hill said Sunday afternoon.
Later that afternoon, the weather improved, and the district chartered the Inland Aviation plane, the superintendent said. The plane crashed about 37 miles west of McGrath on the side of a small mountain.
CHALLENGING RESCUE
Just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the center launched an HC-130 plane with Alaska Air National Guard pararescuers and officers from Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson.
But the rescue plane couldn't get below the cloud cover. Around 9 a.m., the Air Guard launched a rescue helicopter and another HC-130 plane.
The four survivors were flown to McGrath, then to Providence Alaska Medical Center.
School officials went to the McGrath airport to try to get more information when the Air Guard's helicopter and plane came in, but couldn't, Ladegard said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. Investigator Clint Johnson went to the crash site Sunday with troopers and a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. Classes are supposed to begin Wednesday in the Iditarod district. Blackwell School in Anvik has 18 students, counting the teaching couple's children.