Anchorage Daily News

Alaska State Troopers have identified the second person they believe was in the fatal airplane crash west of Wasilla on Tuesday morning as Paul Reinders, 73, of Santa Rosa, Calif.

Troopers believe Reinders and Robert Whitesell, 63, of Mustang, Okla., died as the plane crashed and blew up in flames.

The bodies were so badly burned that official identification may take a while and depend on dental records, troopers said. The two were the only people on board.

Troopers said that because of the condition of the wreck and because there was no flight plan, it is initially hard to know who was piloting the plane or where it was going.

The kit plane went down about half a mile off Mile 46 Parks Highway in Meadow Lakes at around 10 a.m., officials said.

Trooper Lt. Patrick Davis said witnesses reported that the plane, which had floats, took off from nearby Kalmbach Lake. They said the engine sounded normal but reported hearing an explosion moments after takeoff, followed by the crash, Davis said.

The plane was a CH 701 STOL kit plane, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The STOL, which stands for "Short Take-Off and Landing," is a popular light sport aircraft made by Zenith Air that can take off in "less than 120 feet of unprepared grass or 90 feet of hard surface," according to the company's Web site.

Reinders was the plane's registered owner.

The plane crashed on a gated road that connects private properties on Kalmbach Lake to a gravel airstrip and, eventually, to the Parks Highway.

National Safety Transportation Board investigator Larry Lewis said marks show the plane appeared to hit the ground about 20 feet before it came to a stop on the Kalmbach Lake Trail.

Alaska has seen fewer airplane fatalities this year than in typical years, Lewis said. The last Valley-related plane fatality is believed to be a single-engine Beechcraft that left Wolf Lake Airport June 21 en route to Whitehorse, Yukon. Pilot Gary Petigler of California and a passenger never arrived at their destination and Lewis said his office suspects the plane crashed.

Find Megan Holland online at adn.com/contact/mholland or call 257-4343.

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