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3 killed in small plane crash near Iditarod route

On Tuesday, a crashed Cessna airplane and three bodies were found near a mountain checkpoint along the route of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The pilot and a mother and daughter were killed in the crash.

A small plane crashed near a mountain checkpoint along the  Sled Dog Race, killing all three people aboard, state officials said on Tuesday.

Searchers found wreckage of the plane, a , on Tuesday near the 4,000-foot level of Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range north of .

Rainy Pass is one of the early checkpoints in the 1,000-mile , which began in  on Saturday.

The search began late on Monday when the plane was reported missing, the Ìý²õ²¹¾±»å. It failed to reach its destination of Takotna, an Athabascan village that serves as a race checkpoint 176 miles beyond Rainy Pass.

Killed were pilot , 59, a retired  officer, and passengers , 48, and Rosemarie Sorvoja, 10, the Alaska State Troopers said. All were from Eagle River.

The plane and those aboard were not part of the " Air Force," the group of volunteer pilots who ferry supplies and race officials to checkpoints and take dropped dogs back to , said a race spokeswoman.

"All our pilots and all our folks are accounted for," Ìý²õ±è´Ç°ì±ð²õ·É´Ç³¾²¹²ÔÌýÌý²õ²¹¾±»å.

But skies above the  are typically busy during the race with numerous other small aircraft carrying spectators.

It was unclear whether the crash victims were following the , said , a spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers said. She said the two females were mother and daughter.

The wreckage was found by an Air National Guard helicopter crew. The victims' bodies were recovered, and an investigation into the crash has been launched,  officials said.

Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Carol Bishopric