TUNTUTULIAK -- A Yute Air flight carrying eight people -- including two children on laps -- was forced to land on the tundra Wednesday night about 17 miles from the village of Tuntutuliak in southwest Alaska, an investigator said.

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No one was seriously injured according to initial reports, he said.

The Cessna 207 apparently lost engine power on a run between Kipnuk and Bethel, said Clint Johnson, senior air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

The flight left Bethel shortly before 5 p.m. and was forced to land soon after, he said.

Tuntutuliak search-and-rescue volunteers on six snowmachines left in subzero, clear weather for the plane just before 6 p.m., said Village Public Safety Officer Wassillie Gilila.

"The trail, it's kind of rough," Gilila said. "It might take them -- I'm guessing about an hour to get there and about an hour to come back."

The rescuers hauled a pair of sleds and warm weather gear for the passengers, he said.

Tuntutuliak is about 40 miles from the Bering Sea Coast and 40 miles southwest of Bethel.

Around 7 p.m., the temperature at Bethel was 6 degrees below zero..

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