Two men killed in Pierce County plane crash
Jun 4, 2014, 4:27 PM | Updated: 11:24 pm
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said a plane that crashed near Buckley Wednesday afternoon was a North American AT-6C. (Photo: Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer)
(Photo: Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer)
Two men are dead after a small plane crashed in the woods near Buckley in Pierce County Wednesday afternoon.
The county medical examiner’s office identified the men as 62-year-old James Robert Cawley and 72-year-old Rodney John Richardson, both of Buckley.
Pierce County detective Ed Troyer says a number of people called 911 to report the crash near the 9200 block of 258th Ave. E. It happened just after 3:30 p.m.
“It got up in the air, the engine started to sputter, a lot of people watched it. They appeared to try to turn around and get to the airport and landed short into a very heavily wooded area,” Troyer says.
The plane was a vintage, restored World War II US Navy trainer used previously on aircraft carriers, Troyer says.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the plane was a North American AT-6C.
The two pilots killed in the crash were well known flying enthusiasts who both lived on a private air strip near the crash site. They had recently exchanged ownership of the aircraft.
Troyer says plane had been flown in a number of local air shows and other events.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
