Plane crash in Ankeny leaves one dead

A small plane crash has claimed a life in central Iowa. It’s a beautiful clear day with a light south wind but early this afternoon a small plane crashed and burst into flames just off runway one-eight at Ankeny’s municipal airport. A manager at the airport’s flight office tells me the plane was just taking off with three people on board. First reports indicate the pilot died in the crash and one passenger pulled another one from the burning plane. Both were taken to area hospitals and the Federal Aviation Administration and national Transportation Safety Board will conduct routine investigations. While nothing about the weather or the plane’s condition obviously contributed to the crash, takeoff stalls are a danger for which private pilots are trained from their earliest lessons.