SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Authorities say the plane from the crash on Saturday, July 25 has been found.
According to the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, the plane reported in the crash has been found underwater. Investigators are still on scene as of Monday afternoon on July 27. As for a cause of the crash, investigators have no new information.
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SIOUX CITY (KTIV) -The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the plane crash reported Saturday, July 25, outside of Sioux City has resulted in one fatality.
Deputies confirmed the news on the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Facebook page on Sunday, July 26.
The pilot of the Zenith CH-64 has been identified as 64-year-old Dennis Elkins of Erie, Colorado.
His friends pinged the plane’s last known location and called the Humboldt, Iowa, Sheriff’s Office.
“The Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center received a phone call from a friend of a pilot that had not been heard from for a while. This incident was reported to the Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center on Saturday, July 25th at 1443. A search of the area where the plane may have been… turned up nothing. A civilian flew a drone in the area as well and came up with nothing,” said Humboldt, Iowa Sheriff Dean Kruger in a statement to KTIV.
Elkin’s family tells KTIV he was leaving from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, after the 2026 EEA AirVenture event on Thursday, July 23. He was piloting a plane that he built himself and believed to have been on his way back to the Erie Municipal Airport.
Elkins is described by family and friends as an avid aviator enthusiast who died doing what he loved most: flying his own plane.
The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says an update can be expected on Monday afternoon and no further information will be released at this time.
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SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Crews were called to the site of a plane crash in Northwest Iowa on Saturday, July 25.
Northwest Iowa responders were called to the site of a possible plane crash outside Sioux City, and authorities have now confirmed a small private plane went down in rural Woodbury County.
First responders were called to Buchanan Avenue after reports of a possible plane that went down near Lawton.
KTIV had a reporter at the scene, working to gather the latest information. Our crew saw an ambulance, numerous Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office vehicles and a helicopter in the area to help with the search.
The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says deputies received a report around 5 p.m. that a small single-occupant private aircraft was overdue for arrival and was believed to be in rural Woodbury County near the city of Lawton.
Shortly after, emergency crews from multiple agencies began a search and located the aircraft.
The crash is currently under investigation. Local authorities are working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The condition of the pilot has not been released at this time.
KTIV will update this story as more information becomes available.
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