Mat-Su

Pilot and passenger uninjured after plane flips during landing at Big Lake

A pilot and his passenger escaped without injuries after a small plane flipped during landing near Big Lake on Saturday evening, the Alaska State Troopers said.

Pilot Austin Joy, 66, was landing his Cessna on a private runway near Burkshore Marina at Big Lake when he “lost his landing lights,” troopers wrote in an online dispatch posted Sunday.

He diverted to an ice road “as it was wider and easier to see in the dark,” but when he touched down, the landing gear slammed into a snow berm, troopers said.

The plane flipped and came to rest “on its top,” troopers wrote.

Joy and his passenger were able to get out of the plane on their own. No injuries were reported.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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