Alaska State Troopers have identified an Anchorage pilot who was found dead in the wreckage of a crashed cargo plane near Skwentna Tuesday.
Peter B. Iversen Sr., 62, was positively identified by troopers at the scene of the twin-propeller C-1A Trader’s crash, according to an AST dispatch released Tuesday night. He was believed to be the only person on board the aircraft.
Troopers say Iversen’s next of kin and the state medical examiner have both been notified.
NTSB spokesperson Clint Johnson said Tuesday that personnel were being transported to the site of the crash, about 17 miles west of Willow, by helicopter.
Guard spokesperson Maj. Guy Hayes says the Trader was reported overdue to the 11th Air Force’s Rescue Coordination Center by the Federal Aviation Administration at about 7 p.m. Monday. An HH-60 Pavehawk helicopter was launched and its crew conducted a search using night-vision goggles but didn't immediately find the plane, which hadn't filed a flight plan.
An HC-130 search plane followed up Tuesday to continue the search after the Pavehawk returned to base, which ended with the discovery of the crash site after several hours. Members of the 212th Rescue Squadron's Guardian Angels were subsequently flown to the site.
"Once on scene, the Guardian Angels were lowered from the HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter via hoist into a wooded area that contained the site," Hayes wrote in a Tuesday statement on the crash. "Guardsmen identified the single occupant pilot, who was deceased."
The National Guard has transferred jurisdiction over the crash site to the NTSB and Alaska State Troopers.
No progress was reported Tuesday in another ongoing National Guard search for a Piper PA-18 Super Cub reported overdue Saturday on a flight from Soldotna to Wolf Lake near Palmer, which is being conducted by Civil Air Patrol units at Anchorage, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Girdwood.
Grid searches have focused on Soldotna and Wolf Lake, as well as the flight path between them, and Alaska State Troopers have been consulted on the search. No trace has yet been found of the Super Cub or pilot Brendan Mattingley, who is believed to be its sole occupant.
Hayes says both the crashed Trader and the missing Super Cub were fitted with 121.5 MHz beacons, which don't allow satellites to track their locations like newer 406 MHz beacons.
Editor's note: The spelling of Brendan Mattingley's last name has been corrected from its initial appearance as "Mattingly."
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