Story last updated at 10/21/2009 - 10:39 am
ANCHORAGE - A National Transportation Safety Board investigator said he plans to speak with the pilot who survived the plane crash that killed wolf biologist Gordon Haber.
Joshua Cawthra, an aviation accident investigator, said he doesn't know whether Haber initially survived the crash, but hopes to learn that information from 35-year-old Daniel McGregor, who remains in satisfactory condition in a Seattle hospital's burn unit.
A Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman told the Anchorage Daily News that McGregor, who sustained hand and facial burns, is expected to remain there for another two weeks.
The Cessna 185 departed at about noon Wednesday and was supposed to return by nightfall.
The aircraft clipped the tops of trees before coming to rest on a slope of spruces in Denali National Park, leaving a trail of debris about 150 feet long, said Cawthra, who investigated the crash site Friday. He said the intensity of the fire turned portions of the aluminum fuselage and wings to ash.
McGregor, who walked 20 miles for help, told campers and a park ranger that Haber, an independent biologist supported by the wildlife protection group Friends of Animals, was tracking a wolf pack near the East Fork of the Toklat River when the plane encountered strong winds and crashed. McGregor said he freed himself before the fire started but had to abandon efforts to save the 67-year-old Haber when spilled fuel ignited.
The 40-year-old Cessna was owned by McGregor, a licensed commercial pilot with an instrument rating and a certified aviation mechanic. Plans are being made to remove the wreckage, Cawthra said, though it's uncertain whether recovery will be completed before the area is snowed in.
Cawthra said he has yet to obtain the plane's logs and maintenance records.
) to vote to remove a comment. Three votes will hide a comment from view.
or 
) to rate comments. These ratings do not effect the status of a comment.
