72-year-old pilot dies in single-plane crash in Smith Township

SMITH — The Ohio State Highway Patrol has identified the pilot who died in a plane crash here Friday.

The patrol said Robert D. Stuhlmiller, 72, of Alliance, died after crashing his plane, a 2005 Europa, in a field west of state Route 165, south of Fifth Street, at 6:30 p.m. No one else was on board. A state trooper says it appears the plane crashed nose first.

The patrol says Stuhlmiller hadn’t filed a flight plan. The Tri City Airport in Beloit was just a quarter mile away.

Joining the patrol in the investigation are representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.