Witness says Alaska plane that crashed had smoke coming from engine after takeoff, NTSB finds

By BECKY BOHRER and MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says a witness saw smoke coming from one of the engines of an old military plane that crashed last week shortly after taking off on a flight to deliver fuel to a remote Alaska village. In a preliminary crash report released Thursday, it says the witness said that shortly after the plane took off from a Fairbanks airport on April 23, he noticed one of its engines wasn’t running and was had smoke trailing from hit. When the plane turned south, he saw that the engine was on fire. The plane crashed a short time later, killing both pilots. It had been carrying large quantities of fuel for a village.