Jun. 25--Two people are dead after a plane crashed while trying to land at the Wasilla airport Sunday afternoon, according to authorities who investigated the wreck.
The names of those who died were not immediately available, but an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board said the single-engine Cessna 177 Cardinal belongs to Aero Tech Flight School, Inc., an aviation instruction school based at Merrill Field.
"There was a flight instructor and a student (on board), but we don't know who was at the control when the plane crashed," said Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The crash was reported to the Wasilla Police Department at 12:33 p.m. One of the people on board was declared dead at the scene, but authorities freed the second occupant, who was still alive. They transported that person by helicopter to a local hospital, but that person later died, Gregor said.
Wasilla Police and Central Mat-Su Fire crews were on the scene late into the afternoon, as were investigators from NTSB and Alaska's Federal Aviation Administration office.
The plane had departed Merrill Field earlier Sunday.
"They ... crashed under unknown circumstances," Gregor said. "They weren't talking to aircraft control, which is common in good weather." Dave Hadley, lead meteorologist with the Alaska Aviation Weather Unit, said the weather at the airport "was actually pretty decent" around 12:30 p.m.
"They had VFR conditions up there -- visual flight rules," Hadley said. "It means (cloud) ceilings were greater than 3,000 feet and visibility was greater than 5 miles. And as a matter of fact, the ceiling was ... approximately 7,000 feet. Winds were calm. And the visibility was 10 miles or greater. So it doesn't appear weather would have been a factor in this crash."
The plane crashed near the southwest end of the small airport's runway, pointing toward the north in an apparent landing attempt. The collision left the Cessna's wings mostly intact, and the back of the plane appeared to suffer little damage.
The nose of the Cessna, however, was smashed in, and pushed down and under. Flight navigation equipment that normally would appear on the plane's dashboard, for instance, was peeled back and facing outward.
The NTSB is investigating this crash.
Contact Daily News reporter Katie Pesznecker at [email protected] or 257-4301.
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