Plane dropped tissue at GOP event before Iowa crash

The scene where Randy Humble's plane crashed while performing stunts for a Republican party picnic. / KLEW

(CBS/AP) MOSCOW, Idaho - Idaho authorities say the pilot of an airplane flying over a Republican party gathering had been dropping rolls of tissue or streamers before it crashed.

The Federal Aviation Administration says early indications are that the experimental airplane stalled or reached a speed and angle at which it lost its lift.

Watch: Why planes crash

The crash Saturday afternoon killed the pilot, 60-year-old Randy Humble, of Moscow, Idaho.

Humble and another pilot had been performing aerial tricks for the GOP fundraising event. Humble was also dropping rolls of toilet paper, but it's not clear why.

A witnesses told CBS affiliate KLEW-TV that the plane lost altitude quickly and the engine was revving loudly before the 1997 Lake Aircraft hit the ground near Viola, Idaho.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating with the help of the FAA.

[KLRoss53]

Those people in Idaho need to flatten out their mountains and start growing corn instead of potatoes like people in states starting with an "I" are supposed to do.

[AshleighCB]

IDAHO, not Iowa.

[TominTX]

The first question which comes up is why was a 60 yr old flying a plane like this to begin with? Someone 60 should be working toward retirement and not trying to act like a 25 yr old. What a way to go.

[bonfire89]

Because my father had the strength and stamina of a 25 year old till the day he died. the weekend before he died I was water skiing with him. a man his age skiing like he did would have impressed a pro. his plane was the fastest lake airplane in the world 550hp. so what was my 60 year old father doing? well we was doing what he did everyday of his life. lived life to the fullest. the man lived the lives of 10 men in his short 60 years. retirement was not important.

[doubleecho-2009]

ODD that MOST of the Republican comments seem to occur during "normal working hours" for most hard-working Americans (I do 6:30am to 5:30pm).
Wish I had time to laze around all day, collecting government benefits and then complaining about the Democrats! What a life!

[Not-retired-yet]

Maybe you should get a life before complaining about Republicans. Who said the folks that reply are collecting government benefits?

[KLRoss53]

Many hardworking Americans work a shift outside the "normal work day" or take breaks in work weeks that are often well over the "normal work week" 40 hours. Your concept of a work world that conforms to a rigid and identical schedule indicates a disconnect with the real world.

[doubleecho-2009]

It COULD be that dropping rolls of toilet paper meant that he thought the GOP policies "were crap"!
It COULD be that that the downing of his aircraft was NOT an accident at all!

[venusvegasvada]

So sorry for this man's and his families loss.

I'm sure he loved his country and family no less than anyone else here.

Godspeed and RIP.

[josephp5]

norcalruss pointed out the major mistake in the headline 2 1/2 hours ago. Yet it has still not been corrected! This really reflects poorly on CBS as a news organization. CBS really needs to hire some proofreaders. This is not a minor mistake---Idaho is 1000 miles from Iowa!

[BUDDYofPA]

But we can all agree it was another Republican stunt gone Haywire!

[w_roos]

Wow, what a fitting way to die for a republican -- crashing something. As we have all witnessed as of late, the republicans have demonstrated that they are the masters of crashing stuff.

[retiredgustav]

He was from Moscow, sounds like the making of a commie plot.