1st Lt. Doug Demarest dead after small plane crashes into building, starting fire in downtown Anchorage, Alaska

  A witness who saw a small plane seconds before it slammed into a building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, said the aircraft didn't sound like it was having engine trouble. Authorities say a small plane crashed into a commercial building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, setting it ablaze. Authorities say at least one person aboard died when the plane crashed into a commercial building Tuesday. Authorities say at least one person aboard a small plane died when it crashed into a commercial building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A small plane crashed into a commercial building Tuesday in downtown Anchorage, authorities said.No details were immediately available on injuries or fatalities in the fiery crash, which happened at about 6:20 a.m. However, Don Tallman of the Anchorage Fire Department says the building appeared to be unoccupied at the time of the crash.Authorities were at the scene and cordoning off the area around the building.Witnesses said the wreckage was fully engulfed in flames, but Tallman said crews are at the scene and have the fire under control.Tallman said crews also are searching the building, and there was extensive damage to the facility.

He says the plane clipped the corner of an office building before it crashed into the side of the commercial building beside it. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Authorities say at least one person aboard a small plane died when it crashed into a commercial building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says it wasn't clear why the plane hit the building. Don Tallman of the Anchorage Fire Department said it didn't appear there was anyone inside the building, which received extensive damage. He didn't have information on the type of aircraft but said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

The Latest: 1 killed when small plane crashes into building ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The latest on a small plane crashing into a building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska (all times local): Authorities say at least one person aboard a small plane died when it crashed into a commercial building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. Authorities say a small plane crashed into a commercial building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, setting it ablaze. He says the plane clipped the corner of an office building before it crashed into the side of the commercial building beside it. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says it wasn't clear why the plane hit the building. Don Tallman of the Anchorage Fire Department said it didn't appear there was anyone inside the building, which received extensive damage.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Authorities say the pilot of a small plane that crashed into a building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, was a member of the Civil Air Patrol who wasn't authorized to fly the small aircraft. The Civil Air Patrol is a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force that is made up of volunteers who help in search and rescue missions. A national Civil Air Patrol statement says the pilot was 1st Lt. FBI spokeswoman Staci Feger-Pellessier says no one on the ground was hurt and there was no indication anyone else was aboard the plane. The FBI says he was the person killed when the Cessna 172 clipped an office building before slamming into a commercial building Tuesday.

Pilot not authorized to fly plane that crashed in Anchorage Posted: Updated: Authorities say the pilot of a small plane that crashed into a building in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, was a member of the Civil Air Patrol who wasn't authorized to fly the small aircraft. Clint Johnson, Alaska region chief for the National Transportation Safety Board, says there were no sanctioned flights when the plane crashed at 6:18 a.m. A national Civil Air Patrol statement says the pilot was 1st Lt. The Civil Air Patrol is a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force that is made up of volunteers who help in search and rescue missions. He says the plane disappeared behind a building, then he heard a loud thud and saw a plume of black smoke.

Lindemuth declined to say how the family knew it was a suicide and asked that the family's privacy be respected. Lindemuth is a managing partner at the law firm where Demarest's wife, Katherine Demarest, works. Demarest, 42, was flying a plane owned by the Civil Air Patrol Tuesday when he clipped the building that houses the law firm, Dorsey & Whitney, and crashed into an unoccupied commercial building. Authorities have said that Demarest, who joined the Civil Air Patrol five years ago, was not authorized to fly the aircraft but they've released few other details. Clint Johnson, the Alaska region chief for the National Transportation Safety Board, did not immediately return a New Year's Day call Friday.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An organization that owns a small plane that crashed into downtown Anchorage, Alaska, office buildings says the pilot didn't seek authorization to use the search-and-rescue aircraft and took it without permission. Civil Air Patrol national spokeswoman Julie DeBardelaben said Monday that Pilot Doug Demarest did not make a request to fly, as required by the organization. Demarest's wife was named a partner at the firm after the crash. Dorsey & Whitney reopened its offices Monday, almost a week after the crash. The 42-year-old Demarest was flying a plane owned by the Civil Air Patrol after taking it from its hangar at Merrill Field, a small airport on the edge of downtown.

The plane struck the building that houses the law firm in which Demarest’s wife is a partner. The National Transportation Safety Board says wreckage from a small airplane that struck a downtown Anchorage building last month was incinerated in the post-crash fire. The NTSB report drew no conclusions about the cause of the crash. The NTSB released the preliminary report Wednesday into the Dec. 29 crash that killed the pilot, Doug Demarest. Anchorage FBI spokeswoman Staci Feger-Pellessier says the agency is awaiting autopsy reports to conclude its investigation.