ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Four people heading to an Alaska fishing spot died when their plane crashed near their destination, authorities said Saturday.
A Montana family was on board the Cessna 170, which crashed shortly after 6 p.m. Friday about 70 miles southwest of Anchorage. The single-engine plane apparently stalled as it approached a landing strip near the Kustatan River on the west side of Cook Inlet, Alaska State Troopers said.
There were no survivors, said troopers who recovered the bodies Friday night.
Troopers identified the dead as Broadview, Mont., residents Joleen Dyess, 38, her husband William Christopher Dyess, 29, and her daughter Taryn Pitsch, 17.
Also killed in the crash was Christopher Copple, 43, a private pilot from Kenai and a friend of William Dyess. An autopsy will be performed on Copple’s remains, troopers said.
Copple, who would have turned 44 on Sunday, borrowed the Cessna from a friend in Kenai for the 30-mile flight across Cook Inlet to the Kustatan River.
The area is a popular fishing spot for early silver-salmon runs, said trooper Sgt. Dan Donaldson. Fishing gear was found on board the wrecked plane, he said.
The plane was destroyed on impact, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
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