Pilot identified from Miami plane crash

Associated Press

MIAMI, Okla. (AP) -- The wife of a 72-year-old pilot who slammed his powerful single-engine airplane into the Will Rogers Turnpike says he had reported problems with the home-built aircraft before the crash.

Florence Tromsness of Quapaw says Clair Tromsness was still trying to familiarize himself with the plane when he took it out for a quick test flight Monday.

Tromsness died when the plane crashed on the Will Rogers Turnpike near the Miami exit.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash, and officials say it could be weeks before a preliminary report is completed.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown says a witness reported seeing the plane sputtering and doing flip-flops in the air before it crashed.

Brown says Tromsness may have been trying to land the plane when it crashed.

A former English professor at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, Tromsness and his wife started Miami Missionary Tent Company in 1980. The company produces heavy-duty vinyl tents used for revival tents and for the rental industry for weddings and parties.