Pilot reported that plane carrying fuel caught on fire before fatal Alaska crash

One of the two pilots of a vintage military plane that was delivering heating oil to a remote Alaska Native village reported a fire on board shortly before the aircraft crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both of them and leaving debris over a wide area, a federal transportation official said Wednesday.

The pilot made radio contact about the in-flight emergency shortly after taking off Tuesday, said Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska regional office.