Alaskan pilot didn’t have OK to fly crashed plane
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The pilot of a small plane that smashed into a building in downtown Anchorage on Tuesday was not authorized to fly the aircraft used in volunteer search-and-rescue missions, authorities said.
Doug Demarest, 42, of Anchorage, died when the Cessna 172 clipped an office building and slammed into a commercial building, according to the FBI, which is helping investigate the crash.
The plane belongs to the Civil Air Patrol, a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force that 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. Demarest joined the patrol in 2010.
No one on the ground was hurt and there was no indication anyone else was aboard the plane, FBI spokeswoman Staci Feger-Pellessier said. Neither agency would release additional details on Demarest or the crash.
WHO declares Guinea is now free of Ebola cases
CONAKRY, Guinea – Guinea was declared Ebola-free on Tuesday, a huge step in the fight against the world’s largest Ebola epidemic.
The West African country is where Ebola emerged two years ago, later spreading to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. No new known cases have been reported anywhere in the world in at least 21 days, according to the World Health Organization, and Liberia is on a countdown to become Ebola-free on Jan. 14, which could mark an end to the epidemic. Sierra Leone, the third West African country to be hammered by the epidemic, was declared free on Nov. 7.
“This is the first time that all three countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – have stopped the original chains of transmission that were responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
Associated Press
