ANCHORAGE — An airplane using the Alaska Highway as a runway struck a truck near Tok as it was taking off from a stop for repairs, Alaska State Troopers said Friday.
Troopers say they were summoned to Mile 1304 about 12 p.m. Thursday to the report of a "motor vehicle versus aircraft crash."
The pilot of the Taylorcraft BC12-D, Naknek resident James R. Bollerud , 52, reported to the National Transportation Safety Board that he landed on the highway after the aircraft was running rough, apparently because his fuel had not been filtered, NTSB investigator Larry Lewis said.
He was actually heading to Tok, and some people waiting for him there came to help while he drained out some of the contaminated fuel, he said. One of the people, Colton W. Guard, 25, had parked a truck on the side of the highway.
As Bollerud headed down the pavement for a takeoff, he misjudged the distance to the truck and his left wing clipped a rack on it, causing the airplane to spin off into the shoulder, Lewis said.
The blow didn't even chip the paint on the truck's rack, but the airplane's wing was banged up, rendering it unflyable, he said. Troopers reported no injuries.
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