Pilot, passengers on crashed plane in southern Washington identified

WOODLAND, Wash. (KPTV) -- Police have identified the three people on a plane that crashed in Woodland, killing one passenger.

The 1981 Mooney M20K plane crashed near the Woodland Airport at 2:45 p.m. Thursday.

Emergency crews responded to the scene and located the single-engine plane on top of the Woodland Waste Water Treatment Plant berm, just north of the runway.

The pilot, Angus Walker, 52, of Woodinville, Wash., and front passenger, Jacob Kuper, 36, of Enumclaw, Wash., were outside the plane when crews arrived. Both suffered serious injuries.

The rear passenger, 56-year-old Marc Messina of Renton, Wash., was pronounced dead at the scene.

Friends said the men had spent the day fishing. Messina was the father of three daughters.

Investigators said the plane, for unknown reasons, failed to gain proper lift before crashing into an eight-foot chain link fence and striking the berm. The crash remains under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.