Police: New Pilot Lost Power

A Palmer (AK) man died Tuesday in the crash of his ultralight (reportedly a Kolb-type machine), just after take-off from the Birchwood Airport.

Anchorage Police Lt. John Norsworthy told the Alaska Star that the engine quit and pilot Lawless McCord, 60, tried to turn back for the runway. He didn't make it, Norsworthy said.

Instead, McCord clipped some trees and impacted the taxiway nose-down.

"According to witnesses they heard the engine stall. At that time they saw him attempting to make a turn back towards the field. Unfortunately he was a bit low and clipped the top of the trees. He crashed nose down onto the taxiway, flipped end over end. When we arrived on scene, unfortunately, he had expired."

Contributing Factors?

There are several factors that might have contributed to the incident, Norsworthy told the paper. Construction on the aircraft had just been completed. McCord was a low-time pilot, having accumulated just 45 hours in the air. And, as witnesses reported, something appears to have interrupted its power output.

It's the third time since November that an ultralight crash has proven fatal at Birchwood. November 10, Jeffrey Olson, 53, of Anchorage (AK) died on impact when his ultralight went down in a Birchwood backyard near a private runway.

As ANN reported (ANN: "Mike Jacober, Sport Pilot Advocate, Lost In Trike Crash" -- June 6, 2003), noted ultralight instructor Mike Jacober (shown right), 53, of Anchorage and his student Robert Pelkey of Homer died in a crash in a remote area of Birchwood. No cause has yet been determined in the two other accidents.

FMI: www.arcticsparrow.com