Plane Crash at Merrill Field: Engine Failure Investigated

0:00The National Transportation Safety Board just dropped their preliminary report on that plane crash at Merrill Field Airport in Anchorage back on January 31st. It involved the Piper PA-22-150 with a pilot and one passenger on board. The pilot walked away fine, but the passenger ended up in the hospital with potentially serious injuries. The flight started smooth from Kenai Municipal Airport earlier that evening. They landed at Merrill, grabbed dinner, then hopped back in for takeoff. Right after getting airborne, the engine lost power forcing the pilot into action. Witness accounts and diagrams show the plane climbing over nearby Fifth Avenue, then banking right back toward the airport. It clipped the ramp area before settling on a taxiway, no other injuries reported, but it shook up folks on the ground. Damage details paint a rough picture. The right wing took a hit beyond the lift strut. Main gear folded back against the fuselage, nose gear crumpled, leftward, and one propeller blade curled with marks on the cowling. Investigators

1:02have security camera footage of the takeoff and crash sounds, and the probe continues to pinpoint why the engine quits so suddenly stay, tuned as more facts emerge. This has been Anchorage News today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with The Story.