Two Back-to-Back Plane Crashes in Midland County

One person is dead and a second critically injured after a plane crash in Midland County Tuesday, September 1.

The Midland County Sheriff’s Department responded to a farm field in the area of East Shaffer and North Sturgeon roads in Mills Township around 12:45 p.m. The preliminary investigation reveals 64-year-old William Granger of Lake City was piloting a single engine 1959 Piper PA 24-250 Comanche when the engine failed. Police say Granger attempted an emergency landing in the field. The aircraft struck a dirt mound upon landing. Granger’s wife, 64-year-old Dorothy Granger, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash follows an earlier crash in Midland County when a 70-year-old Beal City man flying a four seat aircraft also had engine failure at about 1,000 feet altitude. He also made an emergency landing in a soybean field in the area of Shaffer and Lewis roads in Warren Township. His plane flipped onto its top, but he was uninjured.

The investigations into both crashes have been handed over to the FAA.