Authorities say it was a Texas man who died when a small plane crashed this week in rural Stephens County.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Saturday that 48-year-old Richard F. Contreras of Flower Mound, Texas, was the only occupant of a Cessna 170 2M that went down three days earlier in a pasture near Velma. Contreras died at the scene after being pinned for more than four hours.
Troopers say Contreras was flying the plane Wednesday afternoon about 3:10 p.m. to aerially check gas pipelines for leaks. They say he banked the plane left and hit high-line wires, causing the plane to hit the ground and burst into flames.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
