Pilot killed in single-engine plane crash

A California man died late Saturday night after crashing his single-engine plane near Corning.

Authorities have confirmed James Pankratz, 60, of Calipatris, Calif. was the only person inside the plane.

“We received information about a plane being down about five minutes before midnight Saturday”, said Adams County Emergency Management Coordinator Donnie Williet, “Based on the DPS location they were given with the help of the Iowa State Patrol began to search the area for the plane wreck.”

There was some confusion due to DPS locations that weren’t accurate. “After searching the area until 2 a.m. the Highway Patrol called off the search”, Willet said. “At 6 a.m. they received new DPS cooridnance information, which lead them to the discovery of the wreckage of the plane at 6:35 a.m. on Sunday morning.”

Additional information regarding the cause of the crash has not been released.

“The FAA will be releasing more information after an autopsy is done”, said Federal Aviation Administrations Elizabeth Isham Cory, “The investigation will probably take a few months.”