Small Plane Crash In Spokane Injures Pilot

The pilot of a small airplane was critically injured today when the single-engine Piper Malibu crashed east of downtown Spokane. The private plane, registered with an owner in Alberta, Canada, had taken off from Felts Field bound for Stockton, California. It went down about 1:30 p.m. just north of East Sprague Avenue at North Erie Street, near the Hamilton Street bridge over the Spokane River. The plane lost power a short time after it took off, hit the top of a BNSF railroad viaduct over Erie and crumpled to the ground there, Spokane Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Sabo said.