An “incident” involving an Iditarod Air Force plane has left it, a State Troopers plane and a plane owned by a trooper damaged and grounded after a collision on the tarmac.
The incident occurred Monday at the McGrath airport when, according to onlookers, the pilot prop-started the Cessna 185D. The plane then began to speed down the runway without the pilot colliding with the other two planes.
Alaska State Trooper as well as Federal Aviation Administration officials were able to confirm the incident.
No injuries were reported; however, damage sustained to the planes has left all three inoperable pending repair, troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said.
The Cessna was last registered to Anchorage man Martin W. Carlson, according to its N-number FAA registration. Carlson is listed as an official Iditarod pilot, according to a 2006 Iditarod Fact Book.
A photo of the incident surfaced on a public forum on Outdoorsdirectory.com, a website aimed at helping “people find the best information pertaining to the Alaska outdoors.”
The incident is under investigation and no criminal charges have yet been filed, Peters said, noting “the at-fault pilot of the plane has refused to provide a statement to the state trooper investigating.”
The investigating trooper was not the owner of one of the planes.
“The private plane owned by the trooper sustained more damage than the state plane,” Peters added.
The pilot’s refusal to provide a statement could potentially hinder further investigation; however, in doing so does not suggest criminal intent by the pilot, nor does it imply formal charges would be filed, Peters said.
“Investigations do take longer when they don’t cooperate,” Peters said.
Calls were made to the Iditarod executive director for comment but were not returned prior to the publication of this report.