Identities of two killed in Johnson County plane crash released

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office said Saturday that the department still is investigating the circumstances behind what caused a small airplane to crash in rural Johnson County.

In a media statement issued by Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, the identity of the two people killed in crash Friday afternoon are listed as Terry Koehn, 70, of rural Iowa City, and James Spicer, 56, of Cedar Rapids. The crash happened at approximately 3:08 p.m., according to Pulkrabek.

Koehn was a longtime Coralville police officer. He also was one of the people who ran the Green Castle Aero Club west of North Liberty.

Pulkrabek said the airplane was a single engine, 1965 Piper Cherokee 180. He added that there is no information to release regarding radio traffic or what led to the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have custody of the airplane. Pulkrabek said the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and Johnson County Medical Examiner will continue to assist the FAA and NTSB in the investigation of this crash.

The cause of the crash at this time remains undetermined.

On Friday, Sgt. Brad Kunkel of the Johnson County Sheriff's Office said authorities responded to the crash site after a call was received by the Johnson County Joint Communications Center.

Kunkel said the plane, which took off from the Green Castle Airport in Iowa City, was on fire when authorities arrived to the scene at 2383 IWV Road SW.

First responders included the Oxford and Tiffin fire departments.

- Gazette photographer Rebecca F. Miller contributed to this report.