(Milford)– One person is dead in the crash of a single-engine plane yesterday (Wed.) southwest of Milford.
The Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office says it apparently happened shortly before 2:00 p.m. That’s when the Communications Center received a report of a plane said to be flying low with its engine cutting out, followed by what was described as a boom.
Sheriff’s deputies, the Iowa State Patrol, Dickinson County Emergency Management and the Milford Police Department searched an area south and west of Milford looking for the downed aircraft.
The Dickinson County Communications Center received another call around 2:45 p.m. from a person who believed they had located the downed aircraft in the area of 250th Street between 160th and 170th Avenues. Upon arriving, authorities found a person who was deceased, along with wreckage that was strewn over the area.
Authorities haven’t released the name of the victim, pending notification of relatives.
Federal Aviation spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory says the plane was a Swearingen SX300 owned by 67-year-old Geary Gearn of Herford, Texas, which is near Amarillo.
Flight plans indicate Gearn was apparently enroute from Minneapolis to Texas when the plane went down.
An investigation into the crash continues. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration are expected on the scene later today (Thursday).
