Fish and Wildlife plane crash in Oregon kills 2

AP News | 2010-01-18 22:42:56

<div id="subtitle">US Fish and Wildlife plane crash in Oregon forest kills 2 men doing migratory bird count</div><div><p>A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee and a contractor were killed when their small plane crashed in an Oregon forest.</p><p>Authorities identified the pilot as 52-year-old Vernon Ray Bentley, a Fish and Wildlife Service employee from Blodgett. His passenger was 59-year-old David Sherwood Pitkin of Bandon, a former employee who was working as a contractor for the agency.</p><p>Benton County sheriff's deputies say they found the wreckage of the Cessna on Monday morning after it failed to arrive in Corvallis as scheduled on Sunday afternoon.</p><p>A radio signal from the plane's locator beacon allowed searchers to narrow the crash site to an area near Philomath.</p><p>The federal agency says the two men were involved in the annual midwinter count of migratory birds.</p><p>THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.</p><p>CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — The pilot of a small plane registered in Idaho and a passenger were killed in a crash in western Oregon.</p><p>Benton County sheriff's deputies say they found the wreckage of the plane Monday morning after it failed to arrive in Corvallis as scheduled on Sunday afternoon.</p><p>Names of the victims were being withheld until their families were notified.</p><p>Deputies say the single-engine Cessna was registered to the U.S. Department of the Interior in Boise, Idaho.</p><p>It was located with a signal from a radio beacon aboard the plane.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67215729&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>


Copyright 2010  <a href="http://www.ap.org">AP News</a></div></div>

loading