CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Roland Steadham Killed in Idaho Plane Crash
Roland Steadham, 67, the chief meteorologist for CBS2, was one of two people killed when a small plane crashed into a frozen river near Emmett, Idaho, on Tuesday, Jan. 27, the station and local officials said. The Gem County Sheriff’s Office said a preliminary investigation found the aircraft clipped a power line and crashed onto the ice of the Payette River just west of Montour.
Two male occupants were fatally injured, and the crash knocked out power in the area, officials said. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a small aircraft carrying two people crashed into a frozen river near Emmett and said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, with the NTSB in charge and expected to provide further updates.
Officials did not reveal who was flying the plane. KBOI wrote that Steadham “guided people through storm after storm in Idaho” for the past decade and described him as a husband, father of six and grandfather. The station said he was an experienced pilot who “operated a small aircraft out of Emmett,” trained fellow meteorologists and enjoyed sharing stories about local pilots.
According to his LinkedIn, Steadham attended the University of Utah and Brigham Young University, began his meteorology career in 1995 and worked at stations in Florida, Utah and Idaho during a more than 30-year career.
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