2 rescued after airplane crash on west side of Cook Inlet

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A pilot and a passenger were rescued after suffering injuries in an airplane crash on the west side of Cook Inlet.

Alaska State Troopers say 65-year-old pilot Michael Beckwith of Anchorage called shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday to report crashing his Stinson 108-3 shortly after takeoff near the McArthur River.

Troopers say a helicopter from the Alaska Air National Guard’s Rescue Coordination Center flew across the inlet, extracted Beckwith and his passenger and transported them to an Anchorage hospital.