Plane crash victim named

Authorities have identified the man who died Sunday in the crash of a crop-duster plane near Colusa.

Daniel Herbert Morgan, 50, was killed when the Grumman G-164 Ag-Cat he was flying clipped a power line and went down near Wescott Road, according to Lt. Doug Turner of the Colusa County Sheriff’s Department.

The agency identified Morgan on Monday afternoon. He lived in Apple Valley, 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Shortly before 4:30 p.m., Morgan’s bi-wing aircraft apparently was dispersing seed rice over farmland a mile and a half south of Colusa when it started to pass underneath high-tension wires, Turner said.

The tail snagged a wire and crippled the plane, causing it to tumble a fifth of mile before it crashed near a wheat field and burst into flames.

Firefighters from the Sacramento River Rural Fire Protection District controlled the blaze within 15 minutes, then found Morgan’s body inside the cockpit, according to Fire Chief Jeff Winters.

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration have inspected the crash site, according to Howard Plagens, an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

A NTSB report on the cause of the accident is expected in about two months.

Turner and Winters described Morgan as a seasonal pilot for Martin’s Dusters, a Colusa firm.

Frank Martin, the owner, declined comment until today at the earliest.

“My whole life, I’ve been in little planes like that; it’s as safe as walking down the street, but every once in a while things happen,” said Darryl Evey of Apple Valley, who has known Morgan for 10 years and once operated an auto-body shop with him. “I never thought he’d die flying.”

Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune can be reached at 749-4708. You may e-mail him at hyune@appealdemocrat.com. Reporter Ryan Orr of the Daily Press of Victorville contributed to this report.