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Associated Press
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Wednesday, March 3, 2021
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A plane that crashed in Alaska’s Wrangell-St Elias National Park last month, killing two people, began a gradual right turn and a descent shortly before the accident, a preliminary report released Wednesday says.
The report on the crash, which killed the pilot and passenger, was released by the National Transportation Safety Board. It offered few details.
The flight was operated by Copper Valley Air Service, and the report cites an official with the company as saying it was a twice-weekly scheduled flight with a planned route from Gulkana to McCarthy to Dan Creek and back to Gulkana. The report states that the flight left Gulkana for McCarthy about 10:21 a.m. Feb. 4, and went down around 10:51 a.m. about 14 miles northeast of Chitina, which is southeast of Gulkana.