Jakarta Globe,Rachel D’oro, August 02, 2010
Anchorage, Alaska. A large cargo-type plane crashed in Alaska on Sunday and burst into a deadly fireball that sparked a forest fire at Denali National Park, officials said.
Park spokeswoman Kris Fister said there were fatalities, but it was unclear how many because “the plane pretty much disintegrated.”
The fireis challenging responders, who don’t know who owns the multi-engine aircraft,which went down near the park’s northern border at 3:15 p.m.
No missing planes were immediately reported and military officials have said noneof their planes were involved.
Clint Johnson with the National Transportation Safety Board said there are a number of large transport planes operating in Alaska.
George Clare, of Las Vegas, said he saw the plane flying very low and slowly while he was walking toward the visitor’s center near the park entrance. He thought the plane was going to land on a local airstrip, so he proceeded to the visitor’scenter. Within minutes, people came running in and saying a plane had crashed.
He said the crash caused a column of smoke a few kilometers west of the visitor’scenter.
Claresaid the aircraft looked like a military plane to him.
“It was a military khaki green kind of color,” he said. “It was propellor-driven. It was a fixed wing aircraft and it had kind of a flat underbelly.”
Doug Stockdale with the Alaska Fire Service said the fire was initially estimated ata hectare but could have grown larger. Smoke jumper fire crews were flown to thescene, he said.
The crash happened just four days after a military cargo plane crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, killing four people onboard.
The four airmen were on a training mission Wednesday evening for a weekend air show at the Air Force base, which wrapped up Sunday. The C-17 crashed about a minute after taking off.
AssociatedPress
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