Second crop duster pilot in a month killed in crash
ENID — The pilot of a crop dusting airplane who died early Tuesday in a crash in a wheat field just outside of the Enid city limits has been identified by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Rodney Sherry, 52, of Olton, Texas, died in the crash about 7:10 a.m. about a mile north of Enid in the 4800 block of W Carrier Road.
Sherry’s airplane hit a guy wire and crashed into a wheat field, the patrol reported.
The airplane was owned by Deterding Aerial Spraying of Pond Creek.
Enid Fire Marshal Ken Helms said firefighters in three fire trucks responded to the crash, north of Chisholm High School.
It was the second fatality in Oklahoma involving a crop duster within a month’s time.
On May 30, Andy Deterding, 57, of Pond Creek, died when a crop duster airplane he was flying crashed into a communication tower’s guy wire north of El Reno in Canadian County.
Joe Neal Hampton, Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association executive director, said he did not know details of Tuesday’s crash, but he knew Deterding and considered him an excellent pilot.
Nicole Deterding, 30, of San Francisco, the daughter of Andy Deterding, said her father was the owner of Deterding Ag Aviation.
Her uncle is Jim Deterding, the owner of Deterding Aerial Spraying, which is a separate company.
She said her family has received an “outpouring of support” from the community. “It’s devastating for all of us.”