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Fatal plane crash near Morgantown

June 23rd, 2012 by WCBC Radio

One person was killed Friday when a plane apparently affiliated with a Montana oil and gas company struck two communications towers near Coopers Rock State Forest and crashed. Monongalia County Sheriff Al Kisner and other officials confirmed the fatality but did not immediately identify the victim.
An aviation mechanic who helped shut down the power systems on the wrecked Beechcraft King Air 90 and make it safe to retrieve the body said the pilot was the only person on board. Searchers looked for other victims but found none, said Mike Nichols of Aphelion Aviation in Morgantown. Nichols said the pilot had been flying in hazy conditions when he struck the towers, tearing down part of one structure and their cables. The plane crashed into the ground at a high rate of speed and broke into pieces that were scattered in both Monongalia and Preston counties.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board dispatched investigators to the site off Interstate 68, but neither agency offered more details Friday afternoon. The plane crashed about 7.5 miles east of Morgantown.

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