Pilot who crashed in Novato field identified

The pilot found dead amid the wreckage of his crashed plane earlier this month in Novato was a Redwood City man, according to officials.|
ELIZABETH M. COSIN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The pilot who was found dead amid the wreckage of his crashed plane in a Novato field Aug. 18 was identified Tuesday as Robert John Madge, 51, of Redwood City, according to the Marin County Coroner’s Office.

Madge was flying from Brookings, Ore., to San Carlos in his single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza when he reportedly radioed air traffic controllers at Marin County Airport that he was in distress and was going to attempt an emergency landing there.

But he crashed on a ranch just north of Hicks Valley, sparking a grass fire that scorched 32 acres and took much of the night to put out.

The Marin County Coroner’s Office said the manner and circumstances of Madge’s death were still being determined and that the Federal Aviation Administration is continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.

You can reach Staff Writer Elizabeth M. Cosin at 521-5276 or elizabeth.cosin@pressdemocrat.com.

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