Shaun Lunt, an anesthesiologist from Loma Linda, Calif., was circling the skeleton of a whale when his Piper PA-18 "Super Cub" crashed near the Alaskan village of Quinhagak Friday, the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News reported.

Lunt was flying one Super Cub as his flight teacher and friend Loni Habersetzer was flying another.

"The second time he circled, the plane stalled and spun and hit the ground and burned. When the airplane burst into flames, I knew it was too late," Habersetzer said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident and state troopers are looking into Lunt's death, Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.