After taking off from Birchwood, a privately owned Cessna 172P Skyhawk crashed and burned in a forest close to Birchwood Airport, in Birchwood Alaska. Pilot/owner George Kobelnyk, 64, co-pilot Christian Bohrer, 20, Sarah Glaves, 36, and Kyle Braun, 27 all died in the crash. A post impact fire destroyed much of the evidence in the debris field. Kobelnyk not only had his flight instructor certification, but also had worked for the NTSB and the FAA. Locals heard the plane was flying low before it crashed but the cause of the accident is unknown. The impact blaze started a forest fire that also had to be handled. The accident is under investigation by the NTSB, FAA, Cessna, and Lycoming who manufactured the engines. The first responders included the Chugiak Fire Department and police department. The NTSB expressed condolences.
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Mozambique Plane Crash Final Report
On Jan 9th 2014 Namibia’s Accident Investigation Commission released the preliminary report of the LAM E190 crash over Botswana/Namibia on Nov 29th 2013. The conclusion at that time was that the captain intentionally crashed the aircraft. On November 29, 2013, there were 28 passengers and 6 crew aboard the Embraer ERJ-190 flown by LAM Linhas Aereas de Mocambique, and it was enroute at FL380 over northern Botswana when the flight descended and radio contact was lost. The burned out wreckage was located by villagers in Bwabwata National Park (Sambesi Region) on Nov 30. A news article on April 15 2016 indicated that the final report was released, although we have not verified it.The captain in charge of the aircraft, Herminio dos Santos Fernandes, was alone in the cockpit at the time of the crash. The copilot had left for the lavatory.
The unverified article says that the final report was compiled by Theo Shilongo, deputy director of the directorate of aircraft accident investigations, who was the investigator in charge, and Hafeni Mweshixwa as the co-investigator. It was signed off by works and transport minister Alpheus Naruseb. When it is available to the public, it should be available at the Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigations Namibia (DAAI).
An interim report of the accident is below. The interim report indicates “The DAAI will provide updates on the investigation and safety recommendations as they become available until completion of the final report” in accordance with the provisions of ICAO Annex 13.