2 Alaskans killed in airplane crash outside Whitehorse

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Two Alaska men who worked for the National Park Service were killed in Canada while flying north in a private airplane purchased in Minnesota.

The Anchorage Daily News reports 56-year-old Charles Benson of Palmer and 58-year-old Jeffrey Babcock of Wasilla died Monday night after taking off from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

Yukon chief coroner Heather Jones in a prepared statement says the men took off at about 5:30 p.m. for Anchorage in the 1952 Cessna 170.

They crashed in trees about 2,000 feet (600 meters) off the end of the runway. They died at the scene.

National Park Service spokesman Peter Christian says Babcock was in charge of the agency’s aviation program and oversaw about 15 pilots and 20 aircraft.

Benson was regional safety manager for the agency in Alaska.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com

AP-WF-05-29-19 1543GMT