Friends remember Roger Brining, one of two people who passed away in a plane wreck Sunday afternoon in Barton County, as a prominent and active member of the community. He was a farmer, former computer store and Internet service owner, Air Force veteran, and pilot. The other victim of the accident was 24-year-old Daniel Bishop of Clearfield, Utah, who was described as the boyfriend of Brining’s daughter, Rebecca Brining.
“Roger was very active at the Great Bend Municipal Airport, and was an enthusiastic supporter of all the airport’s activities and events,” said friend Martin Miller, Great Bend airport manager. “He was serving on the Airport Advisory Committee for the City of Great Bend, and was a past president of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 1134 based at the airport. He always demonstrated a positive attitude towards this airport and its operations, and contributed both time and money to broaden interest in aviation, the historical impact of the airport on the community. He never hesitated to volunteer when it came to exposing others to the experience of flying.”
The 1997 kit built aircraft crashed at 11:33 a.m. Sunday near the Boyd Blacktop in a corn stubble field, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol Master Trooper James Robinson. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
The single-engine aircraft departed from the Great Bend airport. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro said the FAA will gather information and report to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is responsible for releasing information to the public. A preliminary report usually takes about a week, with a detailed factual report typically coming weeks later.
Records show the two-seat LP-70 airplane was manufactured by Robert Schrieber. It was one of four private planes in Great Bend registered to Brining Air LLC.
Robinson said there was an eyewitness to the crash. The aircraft was flying south following NW 30 Ave. at 200-300 feet angling upward to gain altitude. The eyewitness said he heard the aircraft coming toward him and then a few moments later, it crashed.
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
It marks the third fatal plane crash in four months that involved area residents.
The two other plane crashes that have occurred in the past four months include Glenn and Elaine Mull, daughter Amy Harter and granddaughter Sami Harter. They were flying to Tennessee in  a twin-engine Gulfstream Commander 690C aircraft that crashed Feb. 3. The pilot, Glenn Mull, was the owner of Mid-Kansas Agri Co. and Mull’s Farms and Feeding, a feed yard near Pawnee Rock.
On April 22, Barton County Commissioner Don Cates died piloting an agricultural plane near Garfield.
Brining, 49, was remembered Monday morning is the prayer before the Barton County Commission meeting, offered by commissioner Don Davis. Jan Peters, president of the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development, also commented on the loss when she delivered a report to the commission later that morning. “Three times in four months ... this is just so sad,” she said. Brining’s widow Erika is on the chamber’s board of directors, and another daughter, Rachel Mawhirter is marketing director at the chamber.
Brining’s obituary appears on the Great Bend Tribune website.