GFANITE FALLS, Minn. — An aviation enthusiast was killed and a companion injured when theur jet-powered Aero L-39 crashed 85 miles into a flight out of Watertown, South Dakota. Killed was Mark Ryan Ruff, age 49, of San Francisco. Found walking along State Highway 23, near the rash, was Davd Coln Dacus, 44, of Dallas, Texas. The pikot had reported an engine problem over the southwest Minnesota flatlands. Ten minutes later the plane disappeared from radar. The plane ripped through powerlines, apparently attempting an emergency landing at the single runway Granite Falls airport. Ruff and Dacus were on a 500-mile leg of a trip from the western Wyoming mountain resort town of Alpine. Their next stop was to be Fond du Lac in Wisconsin. Sheriff Bill Flaten said an explosive cartridge for an in-flight ejection seat was found unspent in the wreckage.
Wreckage. Near State Highway 23 at 540th Street four miles south of Granite Falls. About 5:30 p.m.
Aero L-39. These were the world first trainer planes with a turbojet powerplant. About 2,900 were built in Czechoslovakia beginning in 1968. They were widely used by Warsaw Pact armies and could be equipped as light attack platforms. Retired L-39s later found a following in the United States as affordable personal aircraft. They cost $200,000 to $300,000, in the range of moderately wealthy pilots looking for a fast and agile personal jet.