Local
Two injured in Vernon County plane crash
Vernon County Sheriff’s Deputies investigated an airplane crash on private property on Thursday.
Emergency responders found the plane in a soybean field near Highway 14 and County Road Y, north of Viroqua.
Alton W. Akers, age 70, of Worley, Idaho, and his son, Co-Pilot, Cabe T. Akers, age 41, of Chicago, Illinois, were en route to the EAA Oshkosh Air Show.
The Akers were piloting a1940, fixed-wing, single-engine, two-seat, Culver Cadet airplane.
The aircraft began to experience engine problems, and they were trying to make it to the Viroqua Municipal Airport for an emergency landing.
Both pilots reported the emergency locator device was activated when they knew they were not going to make it to the airport, but the engine quit on descend.
At that point, the landing gear was deployed, and an emergency landing was attempted in a nearby soybean field.
Both pilots remain hospitalized in stable condition with serious injuries.