A man died in Wasilla on Thursday after his plane crashed soon after takeoff, officials said.
The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. at the Wasilla Airport, said Amanda Graham, a Wasilla Police Department spokeswoman.
The man was the sole person aboard a “home-built, experimental” plane, said Clint Johnson, the Alaska chief for the National Transportation Safety Board.
Witnesses reported that the plane took off, started a steep climb and then descended nose-first onto a road near the runway, Johnson said.
An officer was at the airport for a security check when the crash happened, and he responded quickly, Graham said.
Officials have not yet identified the man.
Johnson said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.