Alaska State Troopers have released the names of the two pilots involved in mid-air collision in the Matanuska Valley over the weekend as 35-year-old Alaska Wildlife Trooper Levi Duell and 52-year-old Eagle River resident Jeffrey Bara.

It was just after 1 pm on Saturday afternoon that a report went in to the troopers reporting a mid-air collision of two fixed-wing aircraft in the valley.

First responders traveled to the two separate wreckage sites to find that both pilots were alive, although one of the p[ilots needed to be extricated from the wreckage. One pilot was reported to have suffered serious injuries, while the other suffered moderate injuries.

The Alaska Wildlife Trooper, Duell, piloting one of the fixed wing aircraft was transported by ambulance to the Mat-Su Regional Hospital.

The other pilot, Jeff Bara, was transported to Providence Hospital in Anchorage via LifeMed after he was extricated from his aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation to determine the cause and circumstance of the crash.

  aircraft, airplane, collision, crash, injuries, jeff bara, levi duell, medevac