Plea deal proposed in plane crash case

SANDPOINT — A pretrial settlement agreement is being proposed to resolve a misdemeanor criminal charge against a Utah pilot who crashed a plane at Sandpoint Airport last fall.

Donald Moss Muirhead is charged with flying under the influence of prescription medication at the time of the Sept. 23 crash.

The terms of the agreement were not made public following a pretrial hearing in Muirhead’s case on Friday in Bonner County Magistrate Court. The agreement is slated for review by Judge Debra Heise, who is presiding over Muirhead’s trial on Thursday.

Muirhead, 55, of Orem, was at the controls of a Piper Aerostar 620P when he careened 600 feet off the north end of the runway and crashed into an antenna array that helps pilots make instrument landings.

Neither Muirhead nor his 61- and 39-year-old passengers were injured.

Muirhead, according to a Sandpoint Police report, blamed the crash on a mechanical issue. Witnesses, however, told police that believed Muirhead touched down on the runway too late and with too much speed, the report said.

Replacing the antenna array and attendant equipment is expected to cost about $270,000, although the system has been deemed obsolete by airport officials. The county is considering a dual-band system that will improve the localizer’s accuracy, adding about $100,000 to the cost.