CANADIAN COUNTY, Okla. — According to local news reports, a cropduster pilot has died after his small aircraft made contact with a Tyler Media 1200 ft. radio tower north of El Reno, Okla., around 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to reporter Kelsy Schlotthauer, the tower then “broke into several pieces and the plane crashed into trees nearby.”
The tower broadcast Oklahoma City Spanish-language station KTUZ(FM) “La Zeta,” which is temporarily airing its programming on sister station 96.5 FM, according to a Facebook post.
KTEN also reports that the pilot has been identified as Andy Deterding of Andy Deterding Ag Aviation.
News 9’s Steve Shaw also writes that Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Mat Conway said the plane landed in a nearby creek bed and caught fire, to which the Okarche Fire Department and Piedmont Fire Department responded.
Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials have begun to investigate the incident, with a preliminary report expected in the next week, according to NTSB Spokesman Terry Williams.
Watch a video of the aftermath here.
Note that an earlier version of this article misstated the tower’s height.
