Man killed in crop-dusting airplane crash near El Reno
The Associated Press - May 31, 2018 2:28 pm
EL RENO, Okla. (AP) – A crop-dusting airplane clipped a support wire to a radio transmitting tower and crashed in central Oklahoma, killing the pilot.
Trooper Matt Conway of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol says the single-engine small plane crashed and burned about 5 p.m. Wednesday about 24 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, near El Reno.
Conway says the aircraft was making a turn while spreading weed killer on a field when it clipped the wire and crashed. With its support wire snapped, the 1,000-foot FM transmitting tower toppled.
The aircraft was driven by Andy Deterding, 57, of Pond Creek, OK. He was pronounced dead at the scene with head, arm, leg and trunk internal injuries and was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
The trooper said the aircraft struck a guideline on the radio tower, then hit the ground and caught on fire.
