Aviation

Three Girdwood residents were among four dead in mountainside plane crash

Three of the men who died in a plane crash in early August near Girdwood were local residents, Alaska State Troopers say.

Killed in the Aug. 4 crash were 55-year-old Karl Erickson, the plane’s registered owner, as well as 31-year-old Charles Weimer and 60-year-old David Osborn, troopers said Friday morning. They were all Girdwood residents.

Osborn retired from the Alaska National Guard as a colonel, according to a Guard spokeswoman.

A fourth, 37-year-old Paul Wiley, was spending a few months in Alaska and lived in Superior, Arizona. Wiley’s adopted grandfather was a close friend of Erickson, who owned property in Superior and spent part of the year there.

The Piper PA-22-150 left Girdwood at about 4:15 p.m. that Sunday and crashed about 15 minutes later in steep, rocky terrain at about 5,000 feet on Goat Mountain near Eagle Glacier. A group of elite skiers in training on the glacier saw it go down and burst into flames.

[Witness saw ‘aggressive flight maneuvers’ before crash above Girdwood that killed four, NTSB report says]

Troopers released the names after the men’s remains were positively identified by the state medical examiner’s office this week. A post-crash fire incinerated the wreckage, federal aviation investigators said.

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Erickson was a student pilot but the National Transportation Safety Board believes Weimer, an airline transport pilot, was flying the plane before it crashed.

A friend said earlier that Erickson texted him that was the plan. The men planned to take Osborn and Wiley for a brief sightseeing flight before landing and heading back up for a training flight, according to an NTSB report released this week.

Zaz Hollander

Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com.

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