An Alaska State Troopers helicopter with three people on board crashed while on a night rescue mission and no survivors were found, authorities said Sunday.

About 10 p.m. Saturday, the helicopter, carrying a pilot and a trooper, picked up a snowmobiler who had been reported stranded near Talkeetna north of Anchorage, the State Troopers said in a dispatch. 

The pilot radioed that the copter was en route to meet medics, but it didn't arrive, the dispatch said. A search aircraft found the crash site about 9:30 a.m. Sunday but the dispatch said there were no survivors.

Identities of the dead were being withheld while authorities contacted family members, NBC station KTUU of Anchorage reported. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

"This tragedy is going to have a very profound effect on all the employees of the Department of Public Safety, the Alaska State Troopers, [and] the search and rescue community, " troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters told KTUU. "Helo-1 is our main helicopter that goes out, and Helo-1 has pulled so many people from the Alaska wilderness."

The snowmobiler had been stranded near Larson Lake, which is east of Talkeetna, about 90 miles north of Anchorage.

The helicopter was a Eurocopter AS350, built by Aerospatiale. Versions of the AS350 have been used in high-altitude rescues in the Himalaya, and one was able to touch down on the summit of Mount Everest in 2005.  

Two New Jersey state troopers were charged Friday in connection with a high-speed escort of luxury sports cars down the Garden State Parkway, state officials said.

Sgt. 1st Class Nadir Nassry, a 25-year-veteran of the State Police, and trooper Joseph Ventrella, 28, were suspended without pay in April over the March incident, one in a series of high-speed escorts that came under scrutiny.

The Garden State Parkway caravan made national headlines after one motorist who passed by the Lamborghinis, Ferraris and other exotic cars described it as "Death Race 2012."

No one was hurt and there were no accidents as the convoy drove from northern Jersey to Atlantic City. Video of the incident by a construction worker appeared to show that some of the vehicles had tape over their license plates.

See the original story at NBCNewYork.com

On Friday, Nassry was charged with tampering with public records or information and falsifying or tampering with records, according to the state attorney general's office. Ventrella was charged with a single count of falsifying or tampering with records. The charges stem from allegations that the officers altered their license plates by using black electrical tape to change the numbers.

Nassryalso allegedly instructed the other drivers in the caravan to conceal or partially conceal their plates using tapes or other means.

Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com

“What they did was absolutely wrong,” New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said at a Trenton news conference where the charges were announced, the Star-Ledger of Newark reported.

Nassry, an assistant station commander, on Thursday took full responsibility for the March escort and submitted his retirement papers. He also asked for leniency for Ventrella, who he said was simply following orders and has been on the force only six years.

The sergeant agreed to participate in the escort because of his friendship with Brandon Jacobs, a former member of the New York Giants, now with the San Francisco 49ers, who was part of the caravan, said Nassry's attorney, Charles Sciarra.

The escorted motorists, members of the Driving Force Club, have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The investigation into the escorts also led to a major shake-up of state police brass, with the reassignment of 10 state police commanders.

Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter

Chiesa and the state police superintendent, Col. Rick Fuentes, on Friday also unveiled a new policy governing state police escorts that is intended to more sharply define accountability for troopers involved in those kinds of events, set forth a clear chain of command for approvals and enhance the safety of other motorists, the Star-Ledger reported.

The State Police have filed administrative disciplinary charges against two troopers who escorted a similar caravan on June 27, 2010, the Star-Ledger reported. The charges allege improper conduct and unsafe driving. In addition, the state police filed disciplinary charges against two supervisors for alleged improper supervision.

Chiesa and Fuentes also announced disciplinary charges against a trooper who allegedly mishandled a speeding ticket issued in 2010 to the owner of a yellow Lamborghini who was stopped for going 116 mph in a 65 mph zone on the Parkway, the Star-Ledger reported. A photograph of driver Joseph Srour, holding the ticket and smiling, was posted on the Driving Force Club website, the paper reported.

More content from NBCNews.com: 

• Maryland man arrested with dozens of weapons, says he's the Joker
• Trial delayed for father of missing Iowa girl
• After 53 rounds, Spanish spelling bee is estancamiento (that's a stalemate)
• City closes hot dog stand teen hoped would raise money for disabled parents
• Synthetic drug raids: 90 arrested, $36M seized
• Woman charged with cashing mummified friend's checks
• Shotgun pellet's 'miracle' path through brain spares woman

Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Two state troopers have been suspended over allegations they provided an “unauthorized escort” to a group of sports cars -- including one driven by football star Brandon Jacobs -- driving at high speeds in New Jersey.

The convoy of cars, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and others, traveled at speeds in excess of 100 mph down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City last month, according to The Star-Ledger newspaper. They also traveled on the New Jersey Turnpike and Atlantic City Expressway.

The paper said witnesses had made complaints to police about the caravan -- which one witness dubbed "Death Race 2012" -- saying they saw patrol cars with emergency lights flashing at the front and rear of the sports cars.

The Star-Ledger also obtained amateur video footage of a caravan of luxury cars allegedly being escorted by state police at high speed on the Garden State Parkway in 2010. It is not known which officers were involved in this convoy.

Watch video of a 2010 convoy obtained by The Star-Ledger (video contains offensive language):

A statement released late Monday by the attorney general’s office said Sgt. First Class Nadir Nassry, 47, a trooper for 25 years, and Trooper Joseph Ventrella, 28, who has six years’ service, had been suspended without pay in relation to the incident last month. 

An unnamed station commander was also transferred “until any potential involvement on his part has been determined,” the statement said.

“We will not tolerate any conduct by a member of the State Police that puts the public in jeopardy, as this unauthorized caravan had the potential to do,” Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said, according to the statement. “We are thoroughly investigating this incident, and those responsible will face serious discipline."

Lt. Stephen Jones, a spokesman for the state police, said investigators would be looking to see if there were any incidents in addition to the one last month and the one in 2010.

“You better believe they are looking hard to see if there are any more; they are certainly checking that,” he told msnbc.com.

Charles Sciarra, an attorney representing Nassry, said in an email that state police officials had canceled a scheduled interview with his client and "simply suspended him without pay."

"This change of course was taken only after tabloid-like headlines appeared on the cover of Star Ledger over the last two days. The headlines scream 'Death Race 2012' when in fact these charitable organizations routinely ask and receive escorts from the State Police to and from the various charitable functions they attend with their exotic vehicles," Sciarra said. "This practice has been in effect for years."

PFT: 'We are thoroughly investigating this incident'

He added that "allegations of recklessness and speeds in the triple digits will not bear out" regarding the escort in question.  

"We hope that the powers that be will take a breath, exhale and engage in a fair investigative process with which we will continue to cooperate.  Either way, we will not permit Sgt. Nassry to be sacrificed to satisfy a public-relations agenda," Sciarra said.

Jacobs unaware
Jacobs’ agent, Justin Schulman, confirmed that his client, who plays for the San Francisco 49ers, went to Atlantic City on the day in question, March 30.

But, he said, "Brandon wasn't aware the escort was authorized or unauthorized."

The Star-Ledger reported that Michael Breen, a founding member of an elite New York City group of sports car enthusiasts called Driving Force Club, wrote on Facebook about a “very fun” run with Jacobs. He appeared in a photo with Jacobs, who was wearing a blue vest with a New Jersey State Police emblem, The Star-Ledger found.

The paper quoted Gov. Chris Christie as saying he “just shook my head” when he heard about the allegations.

"What are you going to do? It’s a completely ridiculous story. Shouldn’t have happened. Dumb thing to do, but let me assure you it’s not the last dumb thing we’ll see happen," Christie told a crowd at a bill-signing event in Newark.

"People are human beings," he added. "They make mistakes. Those people who made this mistake should be held accountable, and I’m sure they will. And I’m glad nobody got hurt."

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Illegal immigrant battles to become a US lawyer
• Harlem shootout after girl, 13, killed, mom hurt
• For John Edwards, an unexpected opening
• California voters to consider ending capital punishment

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook