A crop dusting pilot survived the crash of his small plane this morning, a couple miles south of Cascade. Jones County Sheriff Mark Denniston says the pilot was dropping grass seed.He’s working with a Waterloo contractor for the DOT, seeding ditches and right-of-ways on a Highway 151 construction project. Sheriff Denniston says the pilot hit power lines while making a low pass. Lines were knocked down going to a local house and crews are waiting for equipment to repair them. Aerial applicators, the modern term for crop dusting pilots, often travel “low and slow” a risky way to fly. This time, Sheriff Denniston says the pilot survived the crash. A Cascade ambulance took him to Dubuque’s Mercy Hospital, and co-workers tell the sheriff his injuries weren’t fatal. The sheriff says in a construction site like the highway project, aerial application is the best way to spread grass seed on the muddy ground.
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