A single-engine plane piloted by the owner of Alaska Dispatch News crashed Sunday night in Halibut Cove.
The National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska office chief Clint Johnson said witnesses reported the single-engine plane struck a tree. The plane, a float-equipped Cessna 206, then crashed into the water and sustained substantial damage, Johnson said. There was only one person on board, and no injuries, he said.
Alice Rogoff, publisher and owner of the state's largest newspaper, was flying the aircraft. In a statement, Brent Cole, an attorney for Rogoff, said she was "involved in an aircraft incident" after an aborted landing.
"She is physically fine," the statement said. "The cause of the accident is yet to be determined and she will be working with authorities to determine what happened."
Alaska State Troopers received a report of the crash just before 7 p.m. Sunday, spokesman Tim DeSpain said in an email.
"Alaska Wildlife Troopers responded to the scene in a vessel and determined that the pilot had been the sole occupant and was not on scene upon trooper arrival," he said in the email. "It was reported that the pilot had no major injuries and had been safely transported by a private party. This aircraft incident has been turned over to the NTSB for investigation as to the cause of the crash."
The NTSB is investigating the incident, Johnson said.
Rogoff was in Halibut Cove, across Kachemak Bay from Homer on the Kenai Peninsula, to attend the 91st birthday party of former state legislator Clem Tillion, Cole said.