Men injured in Griswold plane crash identified

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Two men injured in a small airplane crash in western Iowa near Griswold on Friday have been identified.

The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports the pilot is identified as 76-year-old Elimar Sudmann. The passenger, 59-year-old Delbert Thurman. Both are from Atlantic.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says both men suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash.

Sudmann is at the Nebraska Medical Center, where he remains in serious condition. The sheriff says Sudmann has a fractured leg and forearm and back injuries.

Operating a single-engine Cessna, Sudmann had the airplane low. Some witnesses say it touched the ground and attempted to take off again, but stalled and dropped, its nose dug into the ground and the plane flipped onto its top.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.