The pilot killed in a plane crash June 29 at Ottawa Executive Airport in Zeeland Township lived along the air strip and built the experimental aircraft from a kit, according to reporting from WOOD TV-8.
Airport officials and neighbors, the outlet said, identified the victim as Robert Fidler, 80.
Deputies with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office were called around 10:50 a.m. June 29 and located the small aircraft just off the runway on airport property. The craft suffered heavy damage, OCSO said, killing the lone occupant.
The incident remains under investigation and will be turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration.
More: Occupant killed in plane crash at Ottawa Executive Airport in Zeeland Township
In a phone interview with WOOD TV-8, former neighbor Gary Moshluk said he and Fidler built their own aircrafts from kits in adjacent hangars.
FAA records, the outlet reported, show Fidler built the fixed-wing, two-seater in 2022, and the agency approved it as airworthy in October 2023. A video posted by Fidler to YouTube shows the craft’s maiden flight in August 2024.
It’s the second crash at Ottawa Executive Airport in 2025. A single-engine plane was found upside-down just off the shoulder of the runway on April 8, though both occupants in that incident survived and declined medical treatment. Police initially believed the plane experienced a landing problem, which caused it to overturn.
— Cassidey Kavathas is the politics and court reporter at The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at ckavathas@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @cassideykava.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Report: Pilot in fatal airplane crash in Zeeland Twp. identified
