Piper Lance Crashes into South Dakota Wind Turbine

Stephen Pope

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at 05:42 PM ET

Verified

** Photo: KELOLAND News**

Key Takeaways:

A Piper Lance aircraft crashed into a wind turbine in central South Dakota, killing the pilot and three passengers.
The incident occurred in foggy weather with poor visibility, several miles from the nearest airport.
The pilot, Donald Fischer, held instrument and commercial pilot certificates, but there was no indication he was flying on an IFR flight plan.
The FAA is investigating the cause, specifically why the airplane was flying at such a low altitude in the reported weather conditions.

See a mistake? Contact us.

A Piper Lance flying in foggy weather in central South Dakota yesterday crashed into the blade of a wind turbine, killing the pilot and three passengers.

The FAA has confirmed that the 1978 Piper PA-32R-300 struck a blade of the wind tower outside Highmore, South Dakota, in poor weather, but offered no explanation as to why the airplane was so low when it was still several miles from the nearest airport.