Pilot Dies after Plane Crashes at Golf Course in SW Missouri

An 87-year old man from Bolivar, MO died Tuesday morning from injuries sustained in a plane crash in Polk County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported the plane crash just after 9:00.

Authorities received a report that a small aircraft had crashed approximately three-quarters of a mile south of the Bolivar Municipal Airport, in Polk County, MO. Members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, and surrounding emergency rescue personnel responded to the area, where they located a 2007 Zenith 601 single-engine airplane that crashed in a wooded area on the Silo Ridge Golf Course.

The pilot of the aircraft, James Donald Baker, was taken to Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

At this time, it is unknown what led to the crash.

A press release from the Highway Patrol says that investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration will be on scene today (May 22) to conduct a complete investigation.