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Two Killed in Plane Crash near Topeka Airport

By Greg Bebermeyer

08/01/2017

Dr. Williams Leeds

(KNZA)--A Topeka doctor was among two people killed Monday evening when a small airplane crashed near Topeka’s Philip Billard Municipal Airport.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says killed in the crash were the pilot, 61-year-old Dr. William Leeds, and his 55-year-old co-pilot, Leawood resident James Bergman.

The Patrol says the 1965 Piper PA-30 fixed wing multi-engine airplane was traveling southeast to northwest when the aircraft appeared to miss the runaway, striking the ground at a high rate of speed. After impact, the plane turned about 180 degrees, coming to rest in a grass field in between the runway and the taxi road to the airport terminal.

Leeds was a doctor with Pulmonary and Sleep Associates in Topeka, which he started in 1998. He did outpatient clinics at the Hiawatha Community Hospital.

Federal investigators were expected to help determine what caused the crash, which was reported around 8:15 Monday evening.

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