Pilot for charity dies in crash

Officials have not determined the cause of the crash.

DEFIANCE, Ohio (AP) — A volunteer pilot for a charity that arranges free flights for patients who need to travel for medical treatment was killed Wednesday when his single-engine Piper airplane crashed in northwest Ohio.

Paul Harris, 57, left Grayslake, Ill., Wednesday morning and was flying solo to Findlay to pick up a passenger for Angel Flight Central, an organization that coordinates private volunteer pilots for health care and humanitarian flights.

Construction crews working on U.S. 24 saw the plane spiraling out of control near Defiance about noon, said Lt. Michael Marchek of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Defiance post.

Harris, of Wauconda, Ill., was pronounced dead at the scene by Defiance County Coroner Paul Brose.

Elizabeth Cory of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Great Lakes regional office in Des Plains, Ill., said the office was in normal contact with the pilot.

“The aircraft was cleared for descent [to 3,000 feet] and that’s the last we heard of him,” she said.

FAA officials have inspected the heavily damaged plane but have not determined the cause of the crash.

“Paul was a fabulous Angel Flight volunteer,” said Christel Gollnick, chief operating officer of Angel Flight Central. “He was very experienced, a very trusted pilot. He passed away doing something he loved.”