Eric C. Corl, 28, was a chief warrant officer assigned to D Company, 123rd Aviation, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment at Fort Wainwright.
On Sunday he was flying a Piper PA-12 that crashed near a private runway. He was the only person in the plane. Witnesses told Alaska State Troopers that shortly after the plane took off, the engine started making unusual noises and quit. He tried to turn back to the runway, but the plane stalled and dropped nose-first into trees and the ground, troopers said.
Corl died as he was being flown to Anchorage for medical treatment.
Corl, a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot, joined the Army in June 2004. He attended the warrant officer candidate school and UH-60 aviator qualification course at Fort Rucker, Ala., then arrived at Fort Wainwright in February 2006. He had one combat deployment to Iraq from July 2008 to July 2009, according to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.