Officials Identify Man Killed in Tama Co. Plane Crash

By Jeff Reinitz, The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

An investigator looks at debris from a plane crash west of Clutier, Iowa, on Wednesday, November 28, 2012. (Kyle Grillot/KCRG-The Gazette)

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By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Nov 29, 2012 at 12:53 PM CDT

Story Updated: Nov 29, 2012 at 8:00 PM CDT

Fatal Plane Crash

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TRAER, Iowa — A plane crash that killed a Traer pilot and injured his passenger occurred when the craft struck utility line, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

According to Tama County Sheriff Dennis Kucera, William “Bill” Konicek, 69 of Traer, was killed in the crash. Max Morrison, 63, of Traer, was injured when he attempted to pull Konicek to safety.

The aircraft caught fire, and the Morrison was flown to the burn unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City where he is in critical condition.

The official cause of the accident, which happened on the edge of a farm field near Clutier at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, likely won’t be determined for several months, and investigators with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were called to conduct the on-scene phase of the probe.

The FAA’s preliminary accident notice on the incident stated the single-engine Taylorcraft BC12 “struck power lines and crashed.” It did not say why the plane was low enough to encounter power lines.