Pilot in Brookfield plane crash dies

Couple, infant were occupants

The pilot of a homebuilt experimental plane that crashed at a Brookfield airport on Wednesday has died.

The 41-year-old man died at Froedtert Hospital Wednesday night, hospital officials said Thursday. His 37-year-old wife remains in critical condition Thursday at Froedtert while their son, who is approximately 6 months old, is in good condition at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

Officials have not released the names of the family, but the plane is listed as being owned by Cory Marvin Papenfuss of Dublin, Va., and John Kinchen Harris of Pilot, Va., according to the FAA registry. It’s unknown if either of those owners were the pilot killed in the crash.

Papenfuss is a research scientist at Virginia Tech’s Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory who earned a doctorate in electrical engineering at Virginia Tech in 2006. In 2013, the Aviation Gazette reported that Papenfuss was included in the prestigious FAA Airmen Certification Database for certified pilots who have met or exceeded the agency’s educational, licensing and medical standards.

The BD-4 plane is a popular homebuilt aircraft known as the first “kit” plane and is built in either two-seat or fourseat configurations. A preliminary report by the FAA says the aircraft encountered strong crosswinds and crashed into a parked sport utility vehicle at the side of the runway while departing Capitol Drive Airport in Brookfield about noon.

Westerly winds of 18 knots, gusting to 23 knots, were recorded at the airport at the time of the crash. Capitol Drive Airport does not have an air traffic control tower. Police reported the 37-yearold woman was sitting in the backseat of the plane with her son, who was restrained in a child seat.

The wings broke off the plane, which was crumpled into almost unrecognizable pieces next to an overturned SUV towing a trailer parked in the grass at the side of the runway.

The family had been visiting relatives in Waukesha County for the holidays and was attempting to fly home to Virginia when the crash occurred.

The pilot’s body was taken to the Waukesha County Medical Examiner, which referred calls to the FAA.