BATTLE CREEK (WKZO) — Police have released the name of the private pilot who died in an airplane crash at Kellogg Airport in Battle Creek Thursday evening.
48-year-old William Carlson Pergerson II was a pastor in the Seventh Adventist Day Church who lived in Berrien Springs.
He was also an evangelist and would be invited to other churches in the region to give guest sermons, and he would fly there in his own plane. He was much better known as Pastor Will Pergerson and there are many videos of his sermons, bible lessons and speeches on the Internet.
Authorities say the plane was a small but reliable kit-built plane that had taken off from the airport at about 8:20 p.m. Pergerson had almost immediately experienced engine trouble and tried twice to land, crashing and burning in a grassy area near a runway on his second attempt.
Pastor Pergerson was apparently on his way back to Berrien Springs when he crashed.The NTSB is investigating.
