A Parker man was killed after a twin-engine Cessna 310 crashed near a west Wichita neighborhood Friday.
Wichita Fire Chief Ron Blackwell said the plane crashed about 4 p.m. in a wooded area behind some homes.
Blackwell said the pilot, identified as Aaron Waters, 47, of Parker, was the only person on board the plane. He said there was no fire at the crash site and no homes in the area were seriously damaged.
Waters had taken off from a Wichita airport and then radioed that the plane was experiencing problems. Blackwell said Waters was told to return to the airport and that is when the plane went down.
Speaking to our ABC-affiliate KAKE-TV in Wichita, Pat Knutson said as soon as the explosion happened, he ran to the crash site.
"I knew it was too late," he said. "It was totally, totally demolished. We looked around and we could see some things, and we knew that there were no survivors."
Knutson said the pilot saved many lives.
"The guy knew what he was doing," he said. "He directed the airplane so that it wouldn't cause casualties to others."
KAKE News also reports the plane, built in 1972 and registered to Celestial Knights, LCC, out of Parker, was en route to Colorado.
The fire chief said the investigation is continuing. According to tracking site Flightaware.com, it was headed to Centennial Airport in Denver.