Four killed in Alaska plane crash

(Reuters) - Four people were killed on Wednesday when a small plane crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in Anchorage, Alaska, police said.

The Cessna 172 aircraft went down in a heavily wooded area near Birchwood Airport, a small, state-owned facility north of central Anchorage, police said.

The pilot was identified as George Kobelnyk, 64, police said in a statement, adding that they were investigating the cause of the crash.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)