By Dave Schroeder

The National Transportation Safety Board says poor weather conditions and the pilot's usage of marijuana contributed to a fatal plane crash this past summer in southern Custer County. According to the Nebraska State Patrol, the Civil Air Patrol discovered the wreckage on June 6, 2008 in a field about 13 miles north of Gothenburg. The aerobatic stunt plane was reported missing the day before after taking off from the North Platte airport. Thirty-nine-year-old(39) Stanley E. Dunn of Fort Collins, CO was the only occupant of the plane and died at the scene. The NTSB's report says there were thunderstorms in the North Platte area at the time the plane took-off, weather conditions that the pilot was not rated to fly in nor was the plane equipped with the proper instruments. They also said that toxicological testing determined the pilot had used marijuana before the accident and it likely impaired his judgement. A small amount of marijuana was found in a backpack pulled from the wreckage. Dunn had been flying from Fort Collins to an airport near Chicago, IL to perform in an aerobatics competition.

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