Two killed in Piper PA-18-150 crash in Northway, NTSB says

Two people aboard a Piper PA-18-150 died when the plane went down near Northway on Sept. 17, the National Transportation Safety Board said. No one on the ground was hurt.

The agency logged the accident at about 9:40 p.m. UTC. The aircraft carried registration N9128D. The investigation, numbered ANC26FA106, remains open. The NTSB has not released a cause or the circumstances of the crash.

An earlier tally, taken before this crash, recorded 20 Alaska aircraft accidents since July 19, three of them fatal, at Chitina, Cape Newenham and Seldovia. Alaska State Troopers said two men died in a separate crash near Aniak on Sept. 15: pilot Nicholas Peters, 34, of Eagle River, and passenger John "Jack" Ervin, 50, of Missouri. Both died when their Cessna 185 went down.

At a Sept. 1 North Slope Borough Assembly meeting, Sen. Dan Sullivan addressed the pace of crashes. "It's heartbreaking. We've had 2 additional airplane crashes. And several Alaskans killed," he said.