Alaska Dispatch

Col. Jack McMullen, commander of 3rd Wing at Elmendorf Air Base near Anchorage, was sitting in front of his computer at work Wednesday evening when he got the troubling call that a C-17 transport had gone down nearby with four aboard. It was only about a minute after takeoff that he got the call, he said at a Thursday morning press conference.

The Boeing C-17 was on a local training run when it crashed sometime shortly after 6 p.m. All four of the plane's crewmembers died in the crash, including three servicemen in the Alaska Air National Guard and one active-duty Air Force. The names of the crew likely won't be released until Thursday evening at the earliest due to an Air Force policy of not releasing that information until 24 hours after the crew's family has been notified.

Emergency crews worked through the night to secure the site, McMullen said Thursday. There's currently an interim safety board on the scene working to preserve evidence, added Brig. Gen. Chuck Foster, and a full safety board is on its way.

At the Thursday morning press conference held outside Elmendorf's main gate, the Air Force said the plane had flown earlier that day, but with a different crew than the one flying when it crashed.

The crew aboard Wednesday night was training for the Elmendorf air show planned for Saturday and Sunday. The Air Force has not decided whether the air show will now go on as planned Saturday. McMullen said a decision would be made today based on what's best for the wing and what's best for the community.

"Obviously this is a huge tragedy, but at some point we'll have to get up and move on," he said.

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