The Cessna 180 landed on railroad tracks running parallel to the Birchwood airport in Chugiak, 32 kilometers north of Anchorage, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email to The Associated Press.

Police spokeswoman Marlene Lammers confirmed that five people perished.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board has investigators at the crash site. The cause of the crash is not known.

"We don't know what stage of flight the aircraft was in when it crashed," Gregor said. Other officials at the scene reported it appeared the plane had just taken off.

A witness who works near the airport, Joe Rinehart, didn't see the crash but saw the flames.