National

Bald eagle caused Alaska plane crash that killed 4, report finds

By MARK THIESSEN

Associated Press
In this undated photo provided the American Bald Eagle Foundation, a bald eagle perches on a tree branch along the Chilkat River within the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve outside Haines, Alaska. A small airplane hit a bald eagle before it crashed just north of Anchorage, Alaska, last month, killing all four people on board.
In this undated photo provided the American Bald Eagle Foundation, a bald eagle perches on a tree branch along the Chilkat River within the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve outside Haines, Alaska. A small airplane hit a bald eagle before it crashed just north of Anchorage, Alaska, last month, killing all four people on board. Cheryl McRoberts AP
ANCHORAGE, Alaska

A small airplane hit a bald eagle before it crashed just north of Anchorage, Alaska, last month, killing all four people on board.

An investigator says it’s the nation’s first civilian plane crash to result in deaths after an impact with a bald eagle.

Shaun Williams with the National Transportation Safety Board says there have been other crashes involving eagle strikes that resulted in serious injuries, not deaths.

The pilot, co-pilot and two passengers died when the plane went down April 20 near a small airport about 20 miles north of Anchorage.

Williams says an unknown substance was later found on the aircraft. Analysis at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., determined some of it was feathers and other materials that came from an immature bald eagle.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Bald eagle caused Alaska plane crash that killed 4, report finds."

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