GARFIELD, Kan. (AP) - The Kansas Highway Patrol says a county commissioner from western Kansas died when his plane crashed while he was crop dusting.
The patrol says 67-year-old Don Cates, a Barton County commissioner from Claflin, died Tuesday afternoon when his ultralight, single-engine plane hit a power line and crashed into a ditch just northwest of Garfield in Pawnee County. Cates was the only person on board.
Cates joined the Barton County Commission in 2010.
The Great Bend Tribune reports (https://bit.ly/1foJVti ) that Cates was a pilot in Vietnam and was awarded several military honors. He then flew for 34 years as a commercial pilot before reaching the mandatory retirement age. He worked several jobs after that and was flying for Pratt’s Farmers Spraying Service when he crashed.
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Information from: Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, https://www.gbtribune.com
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