Authorities have released the identities of the pilot and passenger injured in a fatal plane crash last week at the Woodland State Airport.
Angus Walker, 52, of Woodinville was identified by Woodland Police Department Sgt. Robb Lipp as the man piloting the 1981 Mooney M20K that went off the runway and through a fence at about 3 p.m. Thursday. The two passengers in the small airplane were 36-year-old Jacob Kuper of Enumclaw and 56-year-old Marc Sebastian Messina of Renton, Lipp said.
Messina, who was reportedly in the back seat, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The northbound plane was in the process of taking off when it failed to gain proper lift, crashing into an 8-foot chain link fence and striking a berm, according to the Woodland Police Department.
Derrek Amburgey, an operator at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, just north of the airport, witnessed the crash through the wastewater facility’s fence, according to a memo from the city of Woodland’s interim administrator Dennis Richards. Amburgey called 911.
Walker and Kuper were outside of the aircraft when firefighters and medical personnel arrived, and both had serious injuries, Woodland police said.
“Although (Messina) had been breathing lightly earlier and had a light pulse, he had passed away when checked again,” according to Richards’ memo.
“Firefighters had a tough time working through the tiny door to assist the injured,” he said. “The cabin in this craft was built to hold four people, however, it was very tight, and the three men were all over 250 pounds each and carried luggage.”
Walker and Kuper were taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where they were treated and released.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said that the plane crashed under unknown circumstances and that both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
