A rescue and recovery dive team was deployed Saturday (July 22) after a helicopter with a pilot and three state workers crashed in a large lake on Alaska91裸聊视频檚 North Slope, officials said.

No survivors have been located.

91裸聊视频淭he official word is, they are missing, presumed fatal,91裸聊视频� said Clint Johnson, the chief of the National Transportation Safety Board91裸聊视频檚 Alaska region.

An NTSB investigators was also en route to the accident scene Saturday as plans were being made to recover the wreckage from the water, he said.

The helicopter had been chartered by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the department said in a statement Friday. It was carrying three employees from the Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey who had been conducting field work.

91裸聊视频淒NR is praying for our employees and the pilot, their families, and the DNR team,91裸聊视频� the statement said. 91裸聊视频淲e are continuing to await updates from the search and rescue effort.91裸聊视频�

Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle flew to the crash site Friday night with a North Slope Search and Rescue spotter ahead of the recovery operation, said Lorraine Henry, a spokesperson for the state agency.

The Bell 206 helicopter was reported overdue Thursday night. A North Slope Borough search and rescue team in a helicopter found debris matching the description of the missing helicopter, D.J. Fauske, the borough91裸聊视频檚 director of government and external affairs, said in a text to The Associated Press on Friday.

Fauske didn91裸聊视频檛 immediately respond to messages Saturday.

The helicopter91裸聊视频檚 wreckage was found in a lake near Wainwright, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in the U.S., formerly known as Barrow.

91裸聊视频淭he helicopter is in shallow water, it is in the middle of a very large lake,91裸聊视频� Johnson said. 91裸聊视频淪o there is a challenge as far as getting the wreckage out of there.91裸聊视频�

The North Slope Borough requested that the Alaska State Troopers activate the Alaska Dive Search, Rescue and Recovery Team, troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel said in an email to The Associated Press.

The team was en route Saturday to Utqiagvik, located on the coast of the Arctic Ocean about 720 miles (1,159 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage. The borough is the primary agency coordinating efforts at the crash site, McDaniel said.

The helicopter flight originated in Utqiagvik and was supposed to return there, Johnson said, adding other details of the flight were not immediately available.

The helicopter was operated by Maritime Helicopters Inc., according to a statement on the company91裸聊视频檚 website. It confirmed the accident was fatal and said names of the pilot and passengers would be released pending notification of next of kin.

Mark Thiessen, The Associated Press

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