NTSB probing deadly plane crash

CLAGSTONE — The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an Oct. 6 plane crash which fatally injured a Sagle airman.

The agency said the investigation is underway, although no preliminary reports have been filed regarding the crash, which ultimately killed Michael Dennis Mills.

Mills, 70, died of his injuries on Oct. 9, according to an obituary.

Mills was at the controls of his Rans S-7 Courier, a single-engined, high-wing monoplane at the time of the crash. The plane is available in kit form for amateur construction or as a completed light-sport aircraft, according to its manufacturer.

Mills' plane crashed under unknown circumstances on a road near the Treeport Airport, a private airstrip east of Spirit Lake, according to a Federal Aviation Administration notation of the crash. The phase of flight was listed as "en route."

Officials at FAA in Spokane did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the plane crash.

The crash was reported at 3:35 p.m. at Pend Oreille and Skyhawk drives, according to a Bonner Dispatch log.

"He was doing what he loved best in his newest float plane," friends and family said in the Colorado native's obituary.