Bellevue Pilot Killed in Congo
A Bellevue man was one of two American pilots killed in a plane crash in eastern Congo that also claimed the life of one of that nation's top presidential advisers. The Idaho Mountain Express reports the U.S. Embassy confirmed Tuesday that Marcus De La Poer Beresford was one of the pilots killed in Sunday's crash. Embassy Public Affairs Officer Mark Dillard identified the other pilot as Geoffrey Wiener, but no age or home town were available. The Gulfstream jet that crashed when it overshot a runway, killing Augustin Katumba Mwanke, the pilots and two others. Beresford's half-sister, Hermione Watkinson of Hailey, says her brother was co-pilot of the aircraft and had been flying for government officials in Congo for about the past year.