Name released on fatal McCook County plane crash

MCCOOK COUNTY, S.D. – The name of a pilot that died after crashing his plane in eastern South Dakota has been released.

Photo Courtesy: KDLT

According to McCook County Emergency Manager Brad Stiefvater, the pilot killed in a plane crash was identified as 69-year-old Comet Henry Haraldson of Sioux Falls on Monday.

Haraldson was flying a single-engine 1976 PIPER PA-28-181 light aircraft when an unknown health complication compromised his ability to operate his plane around 2:15 p.m. CST (1:15 p.m. MST) on Sunday. He then crashed roughly 15 minutes later in a field west of Canistota and south of Salem. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

READ MORE: Pilot killed in small plane crash in McCook County

Haraldson was a member of the Sioux Falls Airshow Committee for over 17 years. He was also an attorney with Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith P.C. law firm for 39 years and was named to a “Best Lawyers in America 2018” list, according to the firm’s website.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave McCook County authorities permission to collect the wreckage.