A cargo plane that crashed Oct. 15 during a flight from Wasilla to an Interior Alaska mine carried hundreds of gallons of fuel and was found ravaged by fire, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash killed the Grumman C-1A Trader's pilot, Anchorage resident Peter B. Iverson Sr., the plane's lone occupant, Alaska State Troopers said. Iverson, 62, took off from Wasilla headed to the Nixon Fork Mine, about 28 miles northeast of McGrath, carrying 900 gallons of diesel fuel, according to the NTSB. The plane was registered to Anchorage-based Fuel Services LLC, the NTSB said.
The Trader slammed into tree-covered terrain just before 4 p.m. about 19 miles west of Willow, the NTSB report says. A weather station in Skwentna, 22 miles away, reported wind gusting to 20 mph, 15 miles visibility and overcast skies, the report says.
Mine workers reported the plane overdue. An Alaska Air National Guard C-130 Hercules spotted the wreckage the next day. A Guard helicopter crew arrived later to find the pilot dead and the plane mostly consumed by fire, the NTSB said.
The cause of the crash is unclear and remains under investigation by the NTSB. An examination of the wreckage will be conducted once the plane is recovered, the report says.
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.
By CASEY GROVE