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BOW, Wash. (AP) -- Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating a plane crash near the Skagit-Whatcom county line that killed the lone person on board.
The plane, a Beech Baron, had taken off from Bellingham en route to Ogden, Utah, said Federal Aviation Administration duty officer Mike O'Connor in Renton.
The aircraft lost radio and radar contact with the Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center in Auburn shortly before the 6:45 p.m. crash Wednesday, he said.
People described seeing the plane "sputtering, flying low, doing acrobatics, whether it was flips or not, I'm not sure. But it was enough to be noticed by several witnesses in the area," Skagit County Deputy Sheriff Chad Clark said.
O'Connor declined to say whether the victim was a man or a woman but several television stations said the pilot was a man. The victim was not immediately identified.
Local authorities said the plane went down near the intersection of Chuckanut Drive and Sunset Road.
"It went pretty much straight into the ground," O'Connor said.
The FAA sent representatives to the crash scene Wednesday night for an initial look. Sheriff's deputies remained overnight to ensure the site remained undisturbed.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
