75-Year-Old Pilot Dies in Indiana County Ultralight Crash

Pennsylvania State Police found 75-year-old David Edward Wittmer dead about 10:30 a.m. Thursday after his ultralight aircraft crashed in a cornfield along Coal Run Road in Young Township, Indiana County, less than a mile from the field where he had been practicing touch-and-go landings the previous evening. Wittmer, of Altoona, reportedly took off between about 6 and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and failed to return; his truck was later located near the field and his phone was found inside a nearby camper, prompting an overnight search by PSP troopers, the PSP Aviation Patrol Unit and local volunteer fire departments. Authorities initially searched a two- to six-mile radius before the aircraft was found much closer to the takeoff site; the wreckage was discovered by a member of the PSP Aviation Patrol Unit and first responders pronounced Wittmer dead at the scene. Police are treating the death as accidental and do not suspect foul play, and the Indiana County coroner and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified. Ultralight aircraft are unregistered, single-seat recreational craft subject to FAA limits on weight, fuel capacity, speed and daylight-only operations.