One of two people injured in a small plane crash west of the Twin Cities has died, authorities said Wednesday.
Pilot Richard Jolkovsky, 61, of Avon, Minn., died of injuries he suffered Monday afternoon when his single-engine plane went down south of Hutchinson, the McLeod County Sheriff's Office said.
Passenger Kyle Fiebelkorn, 24, of St. Louis Park remains hospitalized in stable condition, the Sheriff's Office added.
Jolkovsky was a cardiologist at the St. Cloud-based health care system CentraCare, where he had worked since 1996. During his tenure, Jolkovsky served as chief of staff at St. Cloud Hospital and currently served as the medical director of clinical excellence and as a member of the hospital's board of directors.
"Dr. Jolkovsky touched the lives of patients and CentraCare staff across central Minnesota," a CentraCare spokesperson said Thursday. "Our hearts go out to Rick's wife, Merryn Jolkovsky, MD, palliative care physician with CentraCare and the entire Jolkovsky family."
The crash occurred about 1 p.m. near 145th Street and Plum Avenue, according to the Sheriff's Office said.
The aviation-tracking website FlightRadar24.com reported that the plane left Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie and retraced its path at times before crashing in a rural part of the county.
Jolkovsky wrote on his Facebook page a week before the crash, "Amazing first flight home with my new 2008 Cirrus SR22-TN from Davis, CA back home to MN ."
Authorities have yet to disclose the pilot's flight plan and shed any light on why the plane went down.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
