Bad weather causes two fatal plane crashes in Nebraska within minutes of each other

OMAHA, Nebraska — Bad weather conditions were reported near two Nebraska farm fields where small planes crashed within minutes of each other in August, according to preliminary reports from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The two crashes occurred on Aug. 26, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) apart and 50 minutes apart, the Omaha World-Herald newspaper reported Thursday. While the NTSB reports do not yet list a probable cause for either crash, both reports include witness accounts of low clouds and poor weather conditions.

Joseph Rudloff, 73, of Norfolk, Nebraska, died when his single-engine, two-seat RANS S19 plane crashed at 8:41 a.m. near the town of Crofton. At 9:31 a.m., a single-engine Piper Cherokee piloted by Charles J. Finck, 79, of Elk River, Minnesota, crashed near Wayne, Nebraska.

No one else was on board either plane except the pilots.

Rudloff’s obituary describes him as an “avid pilot” who died after his plane was engulfed in thick fog. The NTSB report states that 11 minutes before the crash, he called a pilot friend to tell him he was over Yankton, South Dakota, but was unable to land there due to bad weather. Yankton was seeing fog and light rain at the time.

Rudloff’s friend suggested he fly to an airport in Nebraska. Rudloff’s plane crashed near Crofton, in far northeastern Nebraska.

That morning, a landowner near Wayne heard the engine of a plane that turned out to be Finck’s. The landowner then heard a pop and saw a plume of black smoke rising from his cornfield. He told investigators that the clouds were near the ground when he heard the plane go by. Rain was also falling.