A Fairbanks man died in a rollover accident while driving a pilot car on the Dalton Highway on Wednesday afternoon, according to authorities and the man's family.
About 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dale Linse, 72, was driving south on the highway in the Galbraith Lake area when his pilot car hit an icy patch, lost control and went over the bank, said his son, Shane Linse.
A spokesman for the North Slope Borough confirmed the death but would only say police were investigating the cause and circumstances of the crash.
Shane Linse said his father first arrived in Alaska in 1975 to work on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and spent years driving a haul truck. About a decade ago, he retired from trucking to start a pilot car service and work as an independent contractor.
At the time of the accident, Linse had just finished piloting a load to the North Slope oilfields, Shane Linse said.
He was a well-known member of the close-knit Fairbanks trucking community, and his death prompted an outpouring of sympathy, Shane Linse said.
"He really did touch a lot of people," Shane Linse said. "He was one of the kindest men you ever knew."