Witnesses reported seeing the Cessna 172 flying in an easterly direction at a very low altitude before striking the northwest corner of an office building in Anchorage, Alaska.
The airplane’s wreckage continued traveling east while descending into an adjacent office building and subsequently struck an electrical transformer.
A postcrash fire consumed the airplane wreckage. The private pilot intentionally flew the airplane into the side of the building, and he was killed.
The flight was not authorized and the event was an intentional act, so the Federal Bureau of Investigation assumed jurisdiction and control of the investigation.
Probable cause: The pilot’s intentional flight into a building.
NTSB Identification: ANC16LA011
This December 2015 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Tragic.
I expected to read the basis for the “suicide” motive of the pilot. Nothing in the NTSB narrative dealt with the “probable cause”. If someone at GA just picks interesting NTSB reports for articles, with no other information, how did they get “suicide” for this one? Because the flight was “unauthorized”?
Several news reports about the event, both immediately after and when the NTSB Final report was released mention the underlying reasons for his behavior. I’d hardly call it an “accident”. The CAP pilot took the aircraft without permission (another word for “stole”) and flew into the building where his wife worked. You can google it and find plenty of background. I agree with others who have posted on this thread that the event was a tragedy on many, many levels. So sad.
Good reportage.