The Macoupin County Coroner’s Office has released the identity of the pilot who was killed in a small-engine plane crash near Virden on Saturday.
The Macoupin County Coroner, Anthony Kravanya says 62-year old Gregory M. Bierman of Raymond was pronounced deceased at the scene at around 9AM Saturday. Bierman was listed as the owner and builder of the single engine Van’s RV-14A kit airplane that went down near a bean field and a line of trees about an 1/8 mile south of Virden on Saturday. Multiple 9-1-1 calls reported the plane being in distress just before it crashed.
The single-engine, two-seater plane had lifted off from Litchfield Municipal Airport approximately 20 minutes prior to the crash.
The death remains under investigation by the Macoupin County Coroner’s Office, Macoupin County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Traffic Safety Board.