Clark County Sheriff's deputies investigate an ultralight aircraft crash April 6, 2020.
An aerial view of the ultralight aircraft crash near Daybreak Airport April 6, 2020.
A Clark County man died following the crash of his ultralight aircraft near La Center Monday, Clark County Sheriff’s Office is reporting.
The sheriff's office announced that it responded to an aircraft crash at 9:20 a.m. Monday, April 6, near Daybreak Airport, a private grass airstrip off of Northeast 290th Street. A resident to the west of the airstrip had reported seeing the possible crash.
Deputies and emergency medical personnel discovered the small aircraft which crashed several hundred yards from the runway in some brush along the East Fork Lewis River, the sheriff's office reported. The pilot and lone occupant of the aircraft, Quin Banta, 58, of Clark County, was reported dead at the scene.
Information from the sheriff’s office investigation indicated Banta took off from Grove Field in Camas earlier in the day. A cause of the crash was unknown, and witnesses said it didn’t appear Banta was in the process of landing or taking off.
The ultralight aircraft was owned by Banta and appeared to be a kit-built aircraft manufactured in 2013 by Kolb Aircraft, the sheriff’s office reported. Banta had a Federal Aviation Administration Student Pilot Certificate.
The National Traffic Safety Board has been notified with an investigation into the crash ongoing. The name of the pilot has not currently been released as next of kin are notified.
