Skydivers don’t get off the ground

WASILLA — A plane loaded with would-be skydivers clipped a tree on takeoff from a small Fairview Loop-area strip and crashed onto a nearby lawn.

On scene, Central Mat-Su Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Keenan said no one was hurt.

“We’re just assessing the pilot right now. He had a little laceration. Doesn’t look like anyone wants to go to the hospital,” Keenan said, before walking back to his truck to grab some absorbent pads after Alaska State Troopers noticed one of the plane’s fuel tanks was leaking.

The plane was registered to Susette Walling of Anchorage but the pilot was a man who walked back to where the skydiving company is based shortly after troopers spoke to him about the crash.

The plane itself was mostly intact, aside from a wheel from its landing gear that lay nearby in the grass.

That grass happened to belong to Alan Wilson, as did the nearest house.

“It’s not my plane. Someone just deposited it in my lawn,” Wilson said with a laugh.

He said he was getting ready to eat lunch when he noticed the plane revving up to take off.

“My father and I stepped out to watch him take off,” Wilson said.

And that’s when he saw the plane clip the trees, spin around and hit some more trees. He said the plane only traveled about 500 feet down the runway.

The incident was actually the second non-fatal crash in the Valley in two days.

On Thursday a plane went down in Palmer as it came in for a landing. Accident data from the Federal Aviation Administration was sketchy as of Friday evening. The report listed the aircraft in question as a Piper Cub registered to Steven Pechota of Palmer.

One person was on board and the plane, “crashed due to unknown circumstances” according to the report.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.