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Alaska man crashes plane during flyover of daughter’s wedding reception

According to an AST dispatch posted Sunday evening, 54-year-old Michael Zagula died in the crash, which was reported to troopers at about 7:10 p.m.

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The remains of 45-year-old Fariah Peterson, the pilot, of Birmingham, Alabama, were recovered on Saturday.

Crews have started recovering the wreckage of a Cessna 207 that crashed Friday in a rugged area of southeast Alaska.

The small community has been left stunned.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive at the site to look into what caused the single-engine aircraft to crash.

A Coast Guard statement Friday evening says the four were transported by helicopter to a Juneau hospital.

Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau said two passengers were airlifted to a Seattle trauma center.

The four survivors were identified as Humberto Hernandez-Aponte, 57, and his wife, Sandra Herrera Lopez, 60, both of Juneau; Jose Vazquez, 15, of Puerto Rico; and Ernestine Hanlon-Abel, 64, of Hoonah.

Ken Marsh, a friend, says Zagula had spent many years as a pilot flying cargo planes all around the world before moving to Alaska.

Officials were able to reach the crash site on Saturday.

In late June, another plane crashed in the region’s treacherous terrain and killed nine people.

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“It’s very, very sad because Mike touched the hearts and minds of just about everybody in this community in some way or another”, Walsh said.

Alaska man crashes plane during flyover of daughter's wedding reception | Reuters