A student pilot and a passenger survived a plane crash near Willow Airport on Saturday night, the Alaska State Troopers said.
Robin C. Spaulding, 20, and John P. Cabaud, 29, both of Talkeetna, were flying in a Cessna 206 just before midnight when the small plane crashed "while performing a training maneuver," troopers and the National Transportation Safety Board said.
The two suffered serious injuries, said Clint Johnson of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Cabaud was teaching Spaulding night-flight operations, according to troopers.
Troopers and Willow Fire Department and emergency responders "were unable to walk in" to the site of the crash.
Personnel with the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center flew in with a helicopter to pick up the injured pilot and passenger and took them to a hospital.
Investigators with the NTSB hope to interview the pilot and passenger tomorrow, Johnson said.