Pilot killed when homemade airplane crashes

WAUTOMA, Wis. – A homebuilt airplane crashed near a runway here, killing the pilot, and a cameraman from The Outdoor Channel captured the accident on film, authorities said Thursday.

The plane burst into flames after it crashed Wednesday morning at the Wautoma Municipal Airport, Waushara County Sheriff David Peterson said Thursday. The 2005 Sportsman 2+2 was made from a kit manufactured by Glasair Corp. of Arlington, Wash.

Michael J. Crowell, 48, of Arlington, Wash., was alone in the plane and died at the scene in a field next to the runway, Peterson said. The cause of the accident was under investigation.

The Outdoor Channel, based in Temecula, Calif., sent a crew from the “Wings to Adventure” program to photograph various activities during the 53rd annual Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, said Edna Hamilton, assistant to the company’s executive vice president.

Tom Gresham, executive producer and host of the program, said Crowell’s plane was among several his program was to film Wednesday.

“Our guy got video of it,” he said in a telephone interview from the EAA grounds.

The videotape was turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said Gresham. He said he was involved in another shoot at the time of the accident and did not see it.

The Wautoma airport gets up to 70 airplanes during the fly-in and convention, and the pilots take a shuttle to the EAA grounds in Oshkosh.

Larry Rydberg, of Albuquerque, N.M., one of the pilots with a plane there, said the crash occurred as the pilot flew low.

“He was the pretty picture. It was a proud moment for a guy in his ultimate love,” Rydberg said.