NTSB: Anchorage pilot extensively modified plane before deadly crash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A plane involved in a deadly crash earlier this month in Wasilla had been extensively rebuilt by an Anchorage man, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
According to the NTSB, Jon Bergstedt made several modifications to his Piper PA-12, including high-performance wing flaps, wing slats, a propeller and modified engine ignition components. He was the sole occupant of the Sept. 14 crash. He was 71, according to troopers.
A friend of Bergstedt told the NTSB the late pilot had worked on the aircraft in a friend’s hangar at Anderson Lake in Wasilla.
Bergstedt made it about a quarter mile on his maiden voyage before crashing into a residential road “in a near vertical, nose down altitude.”
Witnesses at the airport noticed the plane appeared to lack full takeoff power. They reported to the NTSB that they expected Bergstedt to give up, but instead, the plane made a shallow climb. That’s when those same witnesses reported hearing the engine lose power and descend behind trees.
The NTSB says the pilot did not communicate with air traffic control. The report states all major plane parts had been accounted for in the initial investigation.
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