ERIK HILL / Anchorage Daily News
Firefighters spray down pieces of a small airplane smoldering on East Eighth Avenue after the aircraft struck a building Wednesday on Orca Street. The last communication from the pilot was a radio transmission to the tower moments before the crash in which the pilot reported losing power.
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Published: October 4th, 2008 02:21 AM
Last Modified: October 4th, 2008 02:59 AM
Police on Friday identified the two people killed when their airplane took a nose-dive while taking off from Merrill Field this week.
Killed were Thomas Blake, 55, and his wife, Paulette Blake, 64, police Lt. Paul Honeman said. The couple split their time between living in Homer in the summer and in Pahrump, Nev. during the winter, he said.
Their Cessna 206 lost engine power immediately after taking off from the airport Wednesday morning, prompting Thomas Blake to turn in an attempt to return for a landing.
The aircraft tumbled out of the sky and into a vacant City Electric Inc., building. No one on the ground was injured, but the airplane was destroyed in a ball of flames.
Identification of the Blakes had been delayed because investigators were waiting for dental records to arrive from Nevada, Honeman said.
The cause of the power loss and crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
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