Pilot killed in Deer Park crash identified

The pilot who died last week in a plane crash in Deer Park was longtime pilot George Bell, 79, the Spokane County medical examiner’s office said Monday.

Bell’s plane crashed near the intersection of Montgomery Road and North Cedar Road, about two miles north of the Deer Park airport around 11:15 a.m. Oct. 2. Bell was pronounced dead at the scene.

He had taken off about 10 minutes earlier and was circling back to land when the crash happened, Deer Park Airport manager Darold Schultz said.

“Several witnesses said they heard the engine sputtering,” Schultz said. He saw Bell take off but was working on other things and didn’t see the crash.

“The next thing I remember was the emergency vehicles,” he said.

Spokane County Fire District 4, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and Deer Park Ambulance responded to the crash. Bell was the sole occupant of the plane.

Schultz said Bell was a regular at the airport. He lived in the Waitts Lake area in Stevens County.

“He was a very nice man, older gentleman, had a long history in aviation and was real fond of it,” he said.

Bell’s plane was a Coot amphibious plane, an experimental model that can be built at home. Schultz said he didn’t know if Bell built the plane himself or bought it from someone else, but said he had a licensed mechanic inspect it.

The National Transportation Security Board is investigating the crash.