Police on Monday identified the man killed in last week’s plane crash in Wasilla as 61-year-old John Hutchison of Big Lake.
Hutchison was the sole person aboard what officials described as a “home-built, experimental” plane last Thursday. Clint Johnson, the Alaska chief for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the plane was a Giles G-202.
Witnesses reported the plane took off from Wasilla Airport, started a steep climb and then descended nose-first onto a road near the runway, according to the NTSB.
The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. Hutchison was declared dead at the scene, according to the Wasilla Police Department.
NTSB on Monday continued to investigate what caused the crash, Johnson said. He said witnesses offered conflicting reports about whether the plane appeared to lose engine power. Investigators will be inspecting the plane’s engine as part of the investigation, he said.
Thursday’s crash was the fourth fatal plane crash in Alaska since May 13. The other crashes happened near Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Whittier.