Details sparing on Alaska plane crash as probe continues

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Authorities are declining to comment on any possible connection between a deadly plane crash in downtown Anchorage and the fact that the pilot's wife worked in one of the two buildings the small plane hit.

Demarest was flying a Cessna 172 owned by the Civil Air Patrol when he clipped the building that houses law firm Dorsey & Whitney and then crashed into an unoccupied commercial building.

The Civil Air Patrol is made up of volunteers who help with search and rescue, disaster relief and homeland security across the country, according to a statement from the national group.

FBI policy prevents the agency from commenting on an active investigation, including "confirming or denying reports surrounding this case other than to reiterate there is no indication this was a terrorist act," Feger-Pellessier said in a statement.

Local Civil Air Patrol officials were alerted Tuesday morning after maintenance crews making a routine perimeter check found the hangar door open, airfield manager Paul Bowers said.