Plane crashes in downtown Anchorage

A small plane registered to a Port Alsworth hunting lodge crashed in downtown Anchorage late Tuesday afternoon, clipping the roof of a hotel on Ingra Street and hitting a small yellow building near Ingra and 7th Avenue.

Maria Reddell was in her hotel room at Ingra House when she looked out the window and saw a small blue and white plane coming straight at her.

"I looked out the window and saw the plane in trouble," she said. "I was already running to the door because I didn't want to be in there if it crashed."

Reddell said the plane sounded like it wasn't running right. Other residents of Ingra House, used to the sound of planes overhead, said the plane sounded overloaded or revved up.

Anchorage Police Department spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said Tuesday evening that five people were onboard the plane, and that one died.

At the scene, fire engines blocked Ingra and yellow hoses snaked towards the wrecked plane and the yellow house. The north side of the house was charred black. The nose of the plane was crumpled but intact.

Tom Sullivan, who works the desk at Ingra House, said he and others ran over almost immediately after the crash to lift up the wing and pull out victims.

"I saw four people get pulled out, but I heard there were five," he said.

The plane's tail bore the name "Sound Flight." A regional flight service founded in 1987 in Renton, Wa., Sound Flight is no longer in operation; although a Washington business license is registered under that name, the corporation was dissolved in April 2009, according to Washington state records. Internet Archive's Wayback Machine shows no cached version of SoundFlight.net, the airline's website, after April 2008. The Cessna 206 was registered to Cavner & Julian Inc., a hunting guide and outfitting service based in Port Alsworth. The company operates Stonewood Lodge.

Contact Joshua Saul at jsaul(at)alaskadispatch.com.