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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Idaho plane crash kills 2

From staff reports

Two people were killed Friday morning in a plane crash near Coolin, Idaho.

Bonner County Sheriff Elaine Savage said deputies were called about 11:20 a.m. to a forested area near Cavanaugh Bay Airport, on the southeastern side of Priest Lake. The airstrip is managed by the Idaho Department of Lands.

Two men, ages 32 and 39, departed Scappoose, Ore., earlier in the morning and were planning to meet up with family members of one of the men who were vacationing in the area, said Bonner County sheriff’s Capt. Jim Drake. The men were not identified.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane flying dangerously low, and it crashed less than a quarter-mile south of the airport, which has a grass landing strip, said Allen Lieske, airport manager.

Lieske was helping another plane take off when he heard the crash, he said. He believes the pilot may not have known the right direction from which to approach the runway, since he was coming in from the south. The correct direction is from the north, over the lake, Lieske said.

The cause of the crash was unknown Friday, and investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in the afternoon to begin their work, Savage said.

The aircraft might have come in too low and hit trees at the edge of the airstrip, Lieske said. It went down in a forested area 100 yards from the runway and burned a 16-square-foot area, he said. Only a portion of the wing and the tail remained late Friday.

The fire was extinguished by the Department of Lands, Drake said.

The single-engine plane, which was manufactured in 1989, was owned by Matthew Giles, of Vernonia, Ore., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA listed the craft, an RV-4 that can reach speeds of 200 mph, as experimental.

This is the first fatal airplane crash at Cavanaugh Bay Airport, Lieske said. The aircraft’s tail number couldn’t be found in any of the airport’s registration log books, he said.