Darrell Ward, one of the stars of the History Channel’s hit reality show “Ice Road Truckers,” died Sunday afternoon, Aug. 28, when the small plane in which he was a passenger crashed in rural Montana.
Identities of the victims have not been released by law enforcement authorities, but the crash and Ward’s death were reported in a press release posted to his personal Facebook page. It was signed, “Bruce for Bob/Chuck.”
Ward, who was 52, had just spent several days meeting fans at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas.
No cause for the crash has been made public, and officials from the National Transportation Safety Board are reportedly on their way to investigate. KECI-TV reports the crash occurred near I-90 east of Missoula near the Rock Creek Airport.
The Missoulian quotes Missoula County Sheriff’s Department Patrol Captain Bill Burt: “Something went drastically wrong. The plane (reported to be a Cessna 182) was trying to climb and appeared to have stalled.’’
Ward joined the cast of “Ice Road Truckers” in Season Six. He and fellow ice road driver Lisa Kelly became business partners in Season 9.
Fellow cast member Todd Dewey wrote on his Facebook page: “Please everyone respect Darrel and his family! We all need some time right now. Can not answer ?s.”
