Crop duster walks away from Yellow Medicine crash

GRANITE FALLS -- A crop dusting pilot was treated and released Tuesday after his airplane crashed at 4:10 p.m. in a cornfield west of Hanley Falls in eastern Yellow Medicine County, according to Sheriff Bill Flaten.

Pilot Bryce Orwick, 47, of Clara City, was able to walk away from the airplane. He was transported to the Granite Falls Municipal Hospital for treatment.

The Sheriff's Office reported that it had received a 911 call of the crash. The caller reported that an airplane had been crop dusting and had gone down in a cornfield. The plane appeared to have hit a guy-wire for a high-voltage power line and knocked down one of the power lines.

Another caller reported that the pilot had gotten out of the plane and was walking on the road.

Responding to the scene were the Hanley Falls Fire Department and First Responders, the Clarkfield Fire Department and Clarkfield Ambulance and the Minnesota State Patrol. The accident will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office.

-- Tom Cherveny