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Anchorage fire chief: 4 dead in fiery Alaska airplane crash

Click to play video: '4 dead after plane crashes in densely wooded area of Alaska'
4 dead after plane crashes in densely wooded area of Alaska
WATCH ABOVE: 4 people are reported dead after a Cessna-172 crashed in a densely wooded area of Alaska on Wednesday – Apr 20, 2016

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The bodies of four people killed when a small airplane crashed Wednesday and burst into flames have been recovered from a heavily wooded area north of Anchorage, officials said.

The airplane crashed shortly after takeoff from Birchwood Airport, a small plane facility about 20 miles north of downtown Anchorage. The accident happened just after 9 a.m., police said.

The post-crash fire “takes away a lot of our evidence,” Shaun Williams, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, said at a news conference. “There was quite a bit of fire damage.”

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Among those killed were the pilot, George Kobelnyk, 54, and co-pilot, Christian Bohrer, 20, Anchorage police said in a statement.

READ MORE: Family says plane crash that killed pilot in Alaska was a suicide

Also killed were the two passengers, Sarah Glaves, 36, and Kyle Braun, 27. Hometowns weren’t immediately available.

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The crash initially sparked concerns about a possible wildfire, but Anchorage Fire Chief Denis LeBlanc said the blaze was contained to the location.

Police got a call from a citizen who said they thought they heard a plane crashing near a road.

“A few moments later, they observed smoke,” Anchorage police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said.

The plane’s destination wasn’t immediately known.

The NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.

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