Pilots killed in crash near Fairbanks identified as fuel service owners, former attorney

Update: 1 One hour before Published: 1 One hour before

Alaska State Troopers this week identified the pilots killed in last month's crash of a fuel-laden cargo plane as Anchorage resident John Sliwinski, 68, and Harry Secoy, 63. years old, from Palmer.

The identification was made by the Alaska State Medical Examiner's Office, troopers said in an update Thursday.

Sliwinski owned Alaska Air Fuel, a Wasilla-based company that operated the aircraft that supplied many remote communities with fuel. He was remembered at a memorial service last month as an avid aviator, family man and active member of the Anchorage Grace Church community.

Secoy worked as an attorney in Washington state for about two decades, according to the Everett Herald. He was a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot who spent his final years working in Alaska as a DC-4 pilot, according to his obituary.

The plane crashed moments after taking off from Fairbanks International Airport on the morning of April 23, carrying approximately 3,400 gallons of unleaded gasoline and two 100-gallon propane tanks for a 300-mile flight to the village of Kobuk in northwest Alaska, according to a preliminary federal report. . Troopers said the DC-4 crashed into the Tanana River about 7 miles southwest of the airport, then slid into a cliff and was consumed by flames.

Investigators say one of the men reported a fire aboard the flight shortly after departure and requested to return to the Fairbanks airport just before the crash. A witness described hearing an explosion and seeing one of the plane's four engines on fire.

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release a probable cause report next year.