Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Sunday, May 11, 2008
Veteran pilot from Lodi killed in crash
LODI, Wis. — Flying airplanes was a family tradition and a vocation, so Robert L. Kazmierczak was in what was normally a friendly and familiar element Monday afternoon as he crop-dusted nitrogen on a wheat field 2 miles north of New Lisbon in Juneau County.
But the small Piper crashed, killing the veteran pilot who was described as “the mechanical one” of the two brothers who ran Kaz’s Flying Service, a three-airplane business based in Lodi.
“He was one of the better pilots in Wisconsin when it comes to flying by the seat of your pants,” said his brother and partner, Jim Kazmierczak.
“It was a beautiful day, and Bobby died flying,” was the statement his family included in a short obituary Tuesday.
Details of the accident await the investigation by federal aviation and local law enforcement authorities.
An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday morning.
The crash was reported to the Juneau County Sheriff’s Department late Monday afternoon by a person who “heard it hit the trees” about 75 yards west of Hwy. 80, said Sheriff Brent Oleson.
No one saw the plane go down, though, or noticed the aircraft having any difficulties. He said the investigation now is in the hands of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Kazmierczak, 55, who was single, worked in a business his father Richard started in the 1940s in south Milwaukee, according to the company’s Web site. Richard’s brothers took over the business in 1957, and Robert and brother Jim bought the company in 1995.
His younger brother, Jim, spoke candidly about the perils of crop-dusting in an article in the Wisconsin State Journal more than 10 years ago.
“It takes an adventurous pilot to fly 10 feet off the ground between trees and telephone poles,” he said. The Piper “Pawnees” are among the smallest crop-dusting planes ever built.
Tuesday, he reflected on a brother, who was taught to fly by “Uncle George.”
“We were in California when Uncle George called him and said to get his butt back. He was a typical punk back then, we both were. Uncle George taught him in a Cub and if he was flying wrong, Uncle George would just slap him upside the head. It was old-school flight training,” said Jim.
He said his brother may have had some sort of engine trouble Monday.
“He was spraying a winter wheat field and where you turn around is all marshy. I think he (had engine trouble) and tried to make a road but didn’t. He saw it and went for the road instead of going into the swamp,” he said.
A funeral is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Hamre Funeral Home, Lodi.
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.