Posted on 01/26/2006 4:53:58 AM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) -- A small, military-style jet crashed into a mobile home park Wednesday, killing the pilot, who was found strapped to his seat 100 yards from the site, authorities said.
The plane hit one trailer, triggering a fire. No one was home at the time and all residents had been accounted for, said Alaska State Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson. But at least five people on the ground were treated for minor injuries from flying debris.
The aircraft was a Czech-made Albatros L39 two-seat training jet owned by a Las Vegas company, Wilkinson said. The plane left Sitka and was bound for the lower 48 states. No flight plan had been filed.
Searchers found the pilot's body across a ravine from the crash. No one else was aboard the plane, Wilkinson said.
Several witnesses saw the pilot eject from the plane at treetop level with his parachute partly deployed, Wilkinson said.
The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating.
Two FBI agents also planned to go to the crash site, said agent Bob Burnham. "It's a combat aircraft and we have some questions about that," he said.
Kurtis Klose, who lives about 300 yards up the hill from the trailer park, said he was sitting down to lunch when an explosion shook his house.
"We looked out the window and there was a huge mushroom cloud and thick, black smoke," he said.
Klose ran along the street and saw a fire and smashed cars and trucks. A small crowd gathered to watch.
"There was another explosion right then. We all took off running," he said.
Steven Matoon said he had just arrived at Ketchikan Airport when he heard a plane make a loud noise. He looked up and saw it circle and then dive toward the ground.
Ketchikan, a community of 7,700, is about 230 miles southeast of Juneau.
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| The wreckage of a small jet sits in the remains of a trailer that the jet crashed into Wednesday Jan. 25, 2006, in Ketchikan Alaska. A circle of cones, at left, surrounds another section of the crashed plane. The pilot of the jet aircraft that crashed into the mobile home park was found dead Wednesday afternoon, still strapped to his seat about 100 yards away from the crash site, officials said. (AP Photo/Don Hazelquist |
Here's the thread he started when it happened:
Thanks. When he started that thread it was his observations and there was no additional info (news, like in this one) in his original post as there is now (look and see; I posted on that thread), and you can check the admin mods history on it. Thanks for posting the link, I did do a search and it did not come up. Didn't know his post was updated. this is additional info.
Bird strike?
Unless the pilot communicated something with someone, we may never know. It doesn't look like a very good glider if the engine flamed out...
Clueless.
Is that the actual bird? Do we know the tail number?
Yep. There is absolutely nothing illegal about owning one of these. Expensive, yes. Illegal, no.
These FBI "agents" need to pick up a copy of Trade-a-Plane. They'll see dozens of military jets for sale.....
Hell, go to E-bay, buy a MIG.
There's a post WWII De Havilland from the Swiss(?) airforce out for bid right now. They are looking to get 40K for it.
Machine guns removed, of course.
One of the first buyers of a Chineses MiG-17 (Back when there was still a USSR) actually got his MiG shipped with the guns in working order. The FBI was understanding (then) and disabled the guns.
Red,
Wasn't my intent to be a S.A.P.P. (Self Appointed Post Police). I noticed that AlaskaJoe's keywords were lacking so I thought people might miss the thread. Interesting first-hand account.
Thats alright; I did look for it but forgot I had posted on it yesterday so failed to browse my previous posts. I hit "abuse" to have this one relocated to Extended News after I saw AlaskaJoes post had the news article added to the title by the Mod. No harm, no foul. has to be a strange feeling to sit and watch a plane go down.
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