AGUILA, Ariz. (AP) - Authorities have identified a man who was killed while piloting his glider plane in the desert northwest if Phoenix.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s spokesman Christopher Hegstrom says 61-year-old Robert Knauff died Saturday afternoon after his glider crashed to the ground in Aguila.
Hegstrom says Knauff was about 100 feet in the air when a towrope connecting him to an airplane somehow became disconnected.
Witnesses told investigators Knauff appeared to try making a sharp turn and then the glider plane stalled, hitting a pole.
Knauff was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hegstrom says Knauff, a retired Army major general, was the registered owner of the aircraft.
There were no other injuries.
Aguila is about 85 miles outside of Phoenix.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.