Experimental Aircraft Crashes, Killing Pilot

A Mustang man was killed when his experimental aircraft, known as a gyrocopter, went down Sunday afternoon at Clarence E. Page Municipal Airport in far west Oklahoma City.

Police identified the victim as Kelly Teague, 46, of Mustang.

"He died doing what he loved," Teague's wife, Diana Teague, said late Sunday. "He was an excellent pilot. He had been flying for a lot of years."

Teague, an acrobatic flight instructor through his business, Teague Aviation, LLC, had nearly 10,000 hours of flight experience, his wife said.

In addition to being a private instructor, Teague had experience as an aircraft accident investigator and as a teacher with the Transportation Safety Institute. He also had worked as an inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration, his wife said.

Witnesses told police the aircraft took off from a field on the east side of the airport about 4:20 p.m., traveled south about 200 feet, then turned sharply before dropping suddenly about 100 feet to the ground, Oklahoma City police Lt. Don Holland said.

The aircraft, which was designed to carry only one person - the pilot - was destroyed in the crash. Teague was dead when police arrived at the crash site and probably was killed instantly, Holland said.

Holland said the accident scene had been turned over to federal accident investigators.