Christopher Cyphers, 50, dies and passenger seriously injured in small plane crash at Big Lake Airport in Anchorage, Alaska

An Anchorage pilot died and his passenger was seriously injured when their small plane crashed on takeoff early Sunday at the Big Lake airport, according to Alaska State Troopers. In a Sunday AST dispatch, troopers say Mat-Su Valley dispatchers were told of the crash that killed 50-year-old Christopher Cyphers just before 2:30 a.m. Investigators determined that Cyphers was flying a Piper Comanche that experienced “some type of engine problem” as it left the airport. “Cyphers attempted to perform an emergency landing at the Big Lake Airport but struck trees which caused him to crash land on a roadway near the airport,” troopers wrote. “ Cyphers was killed in the crash and the passenger suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported by Lifemed (air ambulance) to an Anchorage-area hospital.” AST spokesperson Tim DeSpain had few additional details immediately available about the crash Sunday morning. He corroborates a report from a Channel 2 viewer that the plane hit power lines during the crash. “That is my understanding, yes,” DeSpain said. Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s chief in Alaska, confirms troopers’ account of the crash but didn’t have further details pending the arrival of NTSB personnel Sunday morning. “Our investigator is on the way there right now,” Johnson said. Cyphers’ next of kin have been notified, and his body is being taken to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.