ANCHORAGE, Alaska—The pilot of a small plane that smashed into a building in downtown Anchorage on Tuesday was not authorized to fly the aircraft used in volunteer search-and-rescue missions, authorities said.
Doug Demarest, 42, of Anchorage, died when the Cessna 172 clipped an office building and slammed into a commercial building, according to the FBI, which is helping investigate the crash.
The plane belongs to the Civil Air Patrol, a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force that is made up of volunteers who help with search and rescue, disaster relief and homeland security across the country, according to a statement from the national group. Demarest joined the patrol in 2010.
No one on the ground was hurt and there was no indication anyone else was aboard the plane, FBI spokeswoman Staci Feger-Pellessier said. Neither agency would release additional details about Demarest or how he acquired the plane.
The early morning crash happened before most businesses opened for the day in the heart of downtown, an area surrounded by offices, hotels and restaurants.
The first building hit houses a law firm, Dorsey & Whitney, where the pilot’s wife, Katherine Demarest, is employed as an attorney, said Bryn Vaaler, an attorney and chief marketing officer based at the firm’s Minneapolis headquarters. Vaaler said he didn’t have any information about the Demarests’ marital status. He also didn’t know if anyone was in the firm’s sixth-floor offices at the time of the crash.
Kent Haina, a 747 captain for UPS, said he was taking out his garbage when he saw the plane go down at a shallow angle and disappear behind a building. He then heard a loud thud and saw a plume of black smoke.
