Pilot killed in crash of crop-duster identified

The pilot killed in the crash of a crop-dusting plane that hit power lines south of Sac City, Iowa Friday morning has been identified as 44-year-old Mark Watson of Burlington.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said the plane came down in a cornfield around 9:15 a.m.

Hazardous materials team member Steve Teske says the plane was fully loaded with fuel and about 300 gallons of pesticide and fungicide. Teske says all the fuel and chemicals were absorbed into the soil after the crash.

Steven Hansen, who owns the land where the plane crashed, says the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will monitor the site.

A crop-dusting plane crashed northeast of David City, Nebraska last Thursday, killing the pilot, 37-year-old Ragnar Emrich of Dorchester, Nebraska.