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An experimental Super Cub aircraft crashed in a Sterling home's yard Thursday afternoon, severely injuring two people. Neighbor Chris Crawford says her husband helped rescue its two badly hurt occupants, with responders using a car tire to prop up the plane's right wing. (Courtesy Chris Crawford / February 28, 2013) |
Alaska State Troopers have identified the two men who were severely injured when a light aircraft crashed near a Sterling home Thursday afternoon.
A Friday AST dispatch says responders had to extricate 34-year-old pilot Mark Kreuger of Sterling, and 44-year-old passenger Scott Steger of Soldotna, from the wreckage of an experimental Super Cub that crashed at about 3:10 p.m. Thursday in a residential yard of a home on the 39000 block of Swanson River Road.
“Steger was transported by ambulance to the Central Peninsula Hospital, while Krueger was airlifted to CPH and then later transported to Anchorage for treatment,” troopers wrote.
Central Peninsula Hospital staff say Friday that Steger has asked that condition information about him not be released, while Kreuger was at Providence Alaska Medical Center and listed in critical condition.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Brice Banning said Thursday the aircraft had the tail number N130Z, listed in FAA records as an “Isaak Super Cub” registered to Thomas M. Kreuger of Soldotna.
“My understanding is that (the pilot) was coming back for a landing,” Banning said.
Central Emergency Services spokesperson Brad Nelson says units, including a fire engine for possible suppression, responded to the crash minutes after it happened.
“When we got the call, it was actually the residents of the house who made the call,” Nelson said.
Responders found the plane severely damaged, with several trees taken out during the crash, and both of its occupants badly hurt.
“There was fuel all over the place -- in fact, one of the passengers had fuel on them themselves,” Nelson said.
A photo of the crash site, sent to Channel 2 in an email from neighbor Chris Crawford, shows a blue-and-yellow plane surrounded by warning tape. The plane's tail rises into the air, and its right wing is propped up on a car tire.
"My husband helped get them out because there was so much fuel that they though it might catch on fire," Crawford wrote in an email to Channel 2. "The tire was used to hold up the wing while they (extricated) them."
Crawford says the crash came very close to hitting tanks at the home containing what she estimated as at least 100 gallons of gasoline, aviation and diesel fuel.
"I would not be writing this tonight from my home if this aircraft hit the tanks," Crawford wrote.
The crash is being investigated by Alaska State Troopers. AST spokesperson Megan Peters had few immediate details on what happened Thursday night, emphasizing that initial information remained sketchy.
“It looks like the plane struck a tree and crashed,” Peters said.
Peters says the investigation has been turned over to the NTSB and the FAA.
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