A board of military officers plans to investigate a plane crash that witnesses say sent a fireball rising hundreds of feet over an Air Force base near downtown Anchorage. Authorities say the plane was on a local training run Wednesday evening when it crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base. They gave no immediate word on casualties, but Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins noted that the plane was not an ejection aircraft and said it was "likely nobody escaped." He said late Wednesday that "It's likely there are fatalities involved in this mishap." Air Force Capt. Uriah Orland says four people were onboard the C-17. Atkins says the plane from the 3rd Wing was based at Elmendorf. Access routes to the site, which was not on a runway, were closed after the crash.

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)