LEDGEVIEW, Wis. (AP) — Federal investigators say a Wisconsin pilot was worried about the wet turf runway when he crashed his small plane into a pickup, killing himself and the truck driver.
According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, pilot John Fiddelke of De Pere told a mechanic at another airport he was concerned about a wet runway in Ledgeview and preferred to land near the end of the runway when he returned Oct. 17.
Fiddelke struck the pickup on an adjacent highway as he came for a landing. The plane was about 5 feet (1.5 meters) over the highway. The pilot was killed, and the pickup driver, Patrick Schounard of Greenleaf, later died.
WLUK-TV reports an on-site inspection did not find anything wrong with the airframe or engine.
