Witnesses Reported Seeing The Plane Flying Very Low Over The City

The NTSB's preliminary report on the accident which occurred December 29, 2015 in Anchorage, AK mostly recounts what we already know about the accident.

According to the report, at about 0618 Alaska standard time, a Cessna 172 airplane, N914CP, was destroyed after impacting the side of an office building in Anchorage, Alaska. The private pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Dark night, visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska about 0600.

Witnesses reported seeing the airplane flying in an easterly direction and very low over the city of Anchorage, just before striking the northwest corner of the office building. The airplane's right wing struck the building between the fourth and fifth floors, which severed the entire wing at the fuselage attachment points. The airplane's wreckage continued traveling east while descending into an adjacent office building. It subsequently struck an electrical transformer, and a postcrash fire incinerated the airplane wreckage.

The closest weather reporting facility is Merrill Field Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, about 2 miles east of the accident site. At 0553, an aviation routine weather report (METAR) from the Merrill Field Airport was reporting in part: Wind from 170 degrees at 8 knots, gusting to 18 knots; sky condition, few clouds at 7,000 feet; visibility, 10 statute miles; temperature 48 degrees F, dew point 26 degrees F; altimeter, 29.57 inHg.

According to CAP management personnel the flight had not been authorized. The Anchorage office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has assumed jurisdiction and control of the investigation.

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov