A small plane crashed on a roadway in the Wasilla area Saturday shortly after taking off from a nearby airstrip, killing its sole occupant, aviation and public safety officials said.
Multiple 911 calls made around 9:36 a.m. Saturday reported a plane crash on Beaver Avenue, Alaska State Troopers said in an online post. Troopers said they arrived at the scene within minutes, and the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration also responded.
Clint Johnson, the NTSB’s Alaska chief, said preliminary information indicates the plane had taken off to the east from the airstrip by Anderson Lake around 9:30 a.m. and crashed shortly afterward on Beaver Avenue — just north of Bogard Road — between Caribou Street and Moose Street, in a residential area. The plane caught fire after it crashed, and the pilot was killed, Johnson said.
Troopers identified the pilot as 71-year-old Jon Bergstedt of Anchorage, and said Bergstedt’s next of kin have been notified.
The plane was a JP Flyer experimental aircraft that resembled an extensively modified Piper PA-12, said Johnson, who had been at the site of the crash Saturday. Bergstedt appeared to be the registered owner of the aircraft, according to FAA records.
Information from the pilot’s acquaintances indicated that this was the plane’s first flight since those modifications were made, Johnson said.
The NTSB worked closely with Alaska State Troopers to load the wreckage onto a truck and remove it from the crash site, Johnson said.
“It has been taken to a secure area, and we will be looking at this airplane in a very detailed fashion,” Johnson said, emphasizing that the investigation was in its early stages.
The plane’s intended route wasn’t immediately clear, he said.
Preliminary information from witnesses at the airstrip “indicated that there was maybe some mechanical issues leading back to the engine,” Johnson said.
That will be one of several areas of focus as the investigation continues, he said, “not necessarily the fact that it’s got some modifications on there.”
Johnson asked anyone who witnessed the crash and hasn’t yet talked to the NTSB to contact investigators at witness@ntsb.gov.