Preliminary report issued in fatal Alaska plane crash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A preliminary report on the crash of a sightseeing airplane at Denali National Park in Alaska describes the flight path but gives few details of a possible cause.

A pilot and four passengers died when a K2 Aviation airplane crashed Aug. 4 near the summit of Thunder Mountain.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators have been limited in their investigation. Neither the wreckage nor the bodies can be recovered because of the hazardous position of the airplane on a near-vertical mountainside.

The NTSB preliminary report published Wednesday describes two satellite telephone conversations after the crash.

Pilot Craig Layson before a connection was lost reported that he and four passengers needed rescue.

In a second call, Layson reported he was trapped in wreckage and that two of the passengers may have died.