by BRIAN GAWLEY
Sequim Gazette

Two Sequim men were killed Friday afternoon when their RV-8 experimental aircraft crashed in a field north of Sequim Valley Airport.

They were identified as 68-year-old Carroll B. “Jeep” Larson, the pilot, and 61-year-old Bob Reandeau Sr. of Sequim.

Federal Aviation Administration investigators were on scene by 5 p.m. Friday.

They were awaiting National Transportation Safety Board investigators to begin examining the wreckage to determine what caused the crash.

Investigators generally take the wreckage to a warehouse or other large building where the wreckage can be cleaned, arranged and analyzed.

A nearby homeowner called 9-1-1 at 2:15 p.m. after the aircraft suddenly disappeared while performing a series of touch-and-go landings at Sequim Valley Airport.

The airplane crashed nosedown in a recently plowed field north of 5612 Old Olympic Highway.

Personnel from Clallam County Fire District 3 and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office waded through the muddy field to investigate the small pile of wreckage.

The aircraft’s tail markings, visible in photographs taken from news helicopters, were N747CL, which match those of Larson’s RV-8 experimental aircraft pictured here.

Witnesses reported a dark-colored RV model aircraft resembling Larson’s departed from Port Angeles’ William R. Fairchild International Airport Friday afternoon headed toward Sequim.

Reach Brian Gawley at bgawley@sequimgazette.com.