(Milford)– Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration were on the scene this (Thurs.) morning of a small plane that crashed Wednesday afternoon southwest of Milford, killing its pilot…the only person who was on board. The victim is identified as 67-year-old Geary Gearn of Canyon, Texas.
A news release from the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office says FAA investigators have now completed an on-site investigation. Their findings will be turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board which will issue a final report.
The plane, a Swearingen SX300, was enroute from Minneapolis to Amarillo, Texas when it went down in a field in the area of 250th Street between 160th and 170th Avenues in Dickinson county.
Officials say there were no eyewitnesses of the crash, which is believed to have occurred shortly before 2:00 p.m. That’s when the Dickinson County Communications Center received reports from people seeing and hearing a low-flying plane with it’s engine cutting out, followed by what was described as a loud boom.
Gearn owned Gearn Industries, Inc., a cattle feed mill business, for about 40 years. Office Manager Deena Richards says Gearn took a commercial flight to Minnesota to pick up the plane. It was there for maintenance.
Richards says Gearn intended to fly about 1,000 miles from the Air Lake Airport in Lakeville, Minnesota to Texas.
