A Kansas man has died in a plane crash in the Kansas City area. The Cass County Sheriff’s Department reported the crash Thursday afternoon. Brian Rech with the sheriff’s department says deputies immediately went to a small, private airport near Belton. The restored Piper J5A, originally built in 1946, apparently crashed on takeoff. Dead is the pilot, Michael A. Shorten, 46, of Stillwell, Kansas, the only person on board. Investigators from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive on the scene today.
