Update: Authorities release names of victims involved in fatal plane crash

DNR firefighters were still hitting hot spots at the crash site of a Cessna T182 Friday afternoon. The crash was near Rise Road, about 400 yards from the ranch, according to Brandy Rise, who reported the crash Thursday afternoon. Gary DeVon/staff photo
DNR firefighters were still hitting hot spots at the crash site of a Cessna T182 Friday afternoon. The crash was near Rise Road, about 400 yards from the ranch, according to Brandy Rise, who reported the crash Thursday afternoon. Gary DeVon/staff photo

Rise Road crash starts fire, but contained to immediate area

Authorities from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigated the crash site of a Censna T182 Friday morning. The plane crashed Thursday afternoon but the surrounding fire made it impossible to investigate at that time, according to Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers, who confirmed to people, the pilot and a passenger perished in the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to be at the scene on Saturday. OSCO photo
Authorities from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigate the crash site of a Censna T182 Friday morning. The plane crashed Thursday afternoon but the surrounding fire made it impossible to investigate at that time, according to Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers, who confirmed to people, the pilot and a passenger perished in the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to be at the scene on Saturday. OSCO photo

OKANOGAN – On Friday, Aug. 14 members of the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office, FAA and Okanogan County Coroner returned to the scene of the plane crash off of Rise Road out of Oroville and have now released the names of the two victims.

“Due the heat from the fires yesterday the scene could not be processed until early this morning. It was determined today that there were two victims involved in the crash, the pilot and a passenger. The bodies were removed from the crash scene this afternoon,” said Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers.

Deputies and Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez met with family members to inform them of the fatal crash. Coroner Dave Rodriguez has released the names of the two men killed in the crash. Albert Losvar, 88, of Loomis and Brian Downing, 62, of Surrey, B.C. The Cessna T182 flew out of Oroville’s Dorothy Scott Airport at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, never reaching its destination of Spokane.

The men were both pilots but it is not known who was piloting the plane at the time of the crash, which, according to Rodriguez, resulted in a large explosion that consumed most of the Cessna. The victims remains were submitted for dental identification, according to the Coroner.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.