Anchorage Daily News

A pilot was seriously injured Tuesday morning when his single-engine airplane crashed near Lake Hood moments after takeoff.

The plane, a Cessna 170B, crashed nose-down in a boggy area south of Northern Lights Boulevard, near Earthquake Park. It came down about a quarter mile from the end of the gravel strip at Lake Hood, the start of its brief flight.

The pilot, the only person on board, was identified by state transportation officials as Carl Fundeen, 67, of Anchorage. Federal Aviation Administration records show he is the owner of the Cessna.

A spokesman for the Alaska Department of Transportation said the pilot's only known relative, a brother in King Salmon, had been notified.

At least a half-dozen pilots witnessed the take off and saw the Cessna's engine cowling come open on the right side of the plane, said Clint Johnson, senior investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. The pilot of the Cessna appeared to make a hard left turn to return to the airstrip but crashed, Johnson said.

The pilot suffered several broken bones in his legs but was conscious when he was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center about 10:30 a.m., Johnson said. He was reported in emergency surgery in the afternoon.

Controllers saw the plane descend right after takeoff, Johnson said.

"He hit pretty hard," Johnson said. "The Anchorage Airport Fire Department and Police had to dismantle the airplane, actually cut him out of the wreckage."

Johnson said a helicopter would be used to remove the plane and take the wreckage to a hangar for examination.

"The propeller is buried now -- it's about three feet under the tundra," Johnson said.

Johnson said he hasn't reached any conclusion about why the plane crashed, but the consistency among the witnesses increases the likelihood it was a mechanical issue.

The cowling is held down by latches and can be opened by a pilot for preflight inspection, Johnson said.

The plane was carrying camping gear and building materials, Johnson said.

Aviation gasoline that spilled from the wreckage was cleaned up by airport personnel, said state transportation department spokesman Roger Wetherell.

Find Richard Mauer online at adn.com/contact/rmauer or call 257-4345. Photographer Bob Hallinen contributed to this story.

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