The pilot of a Civil Air Patrol airplane that crashed into a building in Anchorage, Alaska, this week committed suicide, according to media reports Friday.Doug Demarest, 42, died Tuesday morning when the Cessna 172 he was flying hit one of the upper floors of an office building, then struck another building before coming to rest on the ground.Speculation about the circumstances emerged amid reports that Demarest’s wife, Katherine, works as an attorney in the first building the plane struck. A managing partner of her law firm, speaking for the family,told The Associated Press Friday the crash was a suicide. She declined to provide details.
The crash occurred about 6:18 a.m. and started a fire, which was extinguished by crews called to the scene. There also was a brief power outage in the immediate area as the Cessna had also hit an electrical transformer, according to a report by the Alaska Dispatch News.There were no other injuries.Demarest was a pilot and five-year member of the CAP, but was not authorized to fly the aircraft the day of the crash. Personnel at Merrill Field in Anchorage noticed the CAP’s main hangar was open that morning and did not notice an aircraft was missing, but alerted the CAP squadron, which also was notified of an ELT activation soon after the crash, according to the Dispatch News.
