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Washington State Man Dies in Oregon Plane Crash

June 6, 2011

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June 6, 2011

A man from Ilwaco, Washington, died Saturday night when his single-engine Piper Comanche crashed a mile away from Oregon’s coastal Warrenton-Astoria Regional Airport.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus told The Associated Press that the four-seat plane lost power at 6 p.m., crashing near Fort Clatsop National Memorial shortly after take-off from Warrenton-Astoria Regional Airport at 5:40 p.m.

Medical crews at the crash site were unable to save the man's life.

The man worked as a bar pilot on the Columbia River and was leader of the Columbia River Bar Pilots Association in Astoria, Oregon. His job was to board inbound ships near the dangerous Columbia River entrance and to navigate them past the Astoria-Megler Bridge, reports The Oregonian.

“He was an asset to the group,” friend and co-worker Captain Robert Johnson told The Oregonian. “We are small enough to really come to depend on each other for management.”

The pilot was the only one aboard the PA-24 plane, which he owned.

The crash is now being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Read more.

Do you think certain planes are more susceptible to crashing? Do you think pilots should undergo frequent evaluations to make sure they’re suitable to fly?

If you or someone you know has had their safety compromised on a commercial or private aircraft, contact the aviation accident lawyers at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Armchair Aviator, creative commons license

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