One dead, one hurt in plane crash

A small plane crashed in a field in northeastern Nebraska, killing the passenger and injuring the pilot, authorities said Sunday.

The twin-engine Beechcraft crashed around 2 p.m. Saturday about two miles west of Verdel, said Tony Molinaro, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The crash destroyed the plane, he said.

The passenger was found dead at the scene, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The victim’s identity hasn’t been released.

The plane’s pilot and owner, Richard Nielsen of Lynch, was taken to a Lynch hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said.

A woman who answered the phone at the Niobrara Valley Hospital in Lynch declined to give Nielsen’s condition or answer any questions, citing medical privacy laws.

The plane wasn’t in contact with air traffic controllers, which isn’t unusual for a small plane, Molinaro said. A flight plan hadn’t been filed, he said.

FAA investigators were headed to the site Sunday. The information gathered will be turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board, Molinaro said.

A phone message left Sunday with the county coroner wasn’t immediately returned.