Authorities on Friday identified the pilot who died in a Thursday afternoon small plane crash at Fairbanks International Airport as 51-year-old Fairbanks resident Jon Tanner.
Tanner's Cessna 172 C crashed shortly after takeoff on a general-aviation runway at the airport's south end, airport police said. Injured in the crash were passengers Bruce Nahorney, 62, and a juvenile male who was not identified because of his age.
The three were transported to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where Tanner was pronounced dead, according to Dan Grimes, deputy chief of the airport police and fire department. The passengers' injuries were not life-threatening.
An air-traffic controller reported the crash at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Grimes said. The plane crashed about 300 yards south of the south end of the runway and came to rest nose down against a fence, Grimes said. The crash left the wings largely intact but folded the tail over, he said.
The crash marked the first fatal general aviation accident at the airport since Grimes started working there 17 years ago.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
Reach Zaz Hollander at zhollander@adn.com or 257-4317.
By ZAZ HOLLANDER
Alaska Dispatch Publishing