Passenger killed, pilot critically injured in San Rafael plane crash ID’d

Authorities identified the passenger killed and the pilot critically injured in a late Saturday plane crash near San Rafael Airport.

Marc Pankin, 59, of Novato, was pronounced dead at the site of the crash. The pilot, Kirk Harford, of San Rafael, remains in critical condition at John Muir Medical Center after being pulled from the two-passenger aircraft, according to a release from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.

Multiple callers reported about 10 p.m. Saturday that the plane had struck power lines near the airport. One caller described seeing a “a bright flash of light in the sky” and power being out in surrounding areas, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Responding law enforcement officials found the plane ― which was bound for San Rafael from Minden, Nevada ― in a “mucky wetlands area” that made access difficult. The aircraft also was wrapped in and surrounded by power lines that caught on the plane’s tail fin during its descent.

Workers from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. deactivated the lines and emergency personnel from the San Rafael Fire Department reached the plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board, in collaboration with the Sheriff’s Office, is investigating the cause of the crash.

An autopsy will be scheduled to determine Pankin’s cause of death.

The Sheriff’s Office is encouraging anyone with information relevant to this investigation to contact the Investigations Division through the non-emergency dispatch line at 415-479-2311.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.