Story last updated at 7/28/2010 - 12:10 pm
KETCHIKAN - The pilot of a floatplane is dead following a crash in a field covering the former Ketchikan Pulp Co. landfill at Ward Cove. Alaska State Troopers identified the victim as 38-year-old Josh Murdock of Ketchikan.
The Ketchikan Daily News reports witnesses saw the 1959 DeHavilland Beaver floatplane crash about 7:30 a.m. Friday, July 23.
Trooper Lt. Rodney Dial says witnesses reported seeing the wing separate from the plane before crash. He says the plane clipped the tops of three trees before the wing separated. Dial says witnesses say the plane may have had difficulty operating, possible due to rainy, windy weather. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
