Lon McIntosh, 46, of Middletown, died when his DC-9-15 loaded with auto parts crashed before dawn Sunday half a mile from the runway in Ramos Arizpe, 200 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, said Don McNeff, spokesman for ABC Jet Airlines of Ypsilanti, Mich.
"He had hundreds and hundreds of hours in a DC-9 as a pilot and captain," McNeff said. "He was a very good man, a good pilot. He was well liked and well respected."
The co-pilot received second- and third-degree burns and was in critical condition, McNeff said. He declined to identify the co-pilot.
"We hear the prognosis is good," he said.
McIntosh's brother, Chris McIntosh of Middletown, said his brother had worked for ABC Jet Airlines at least 10 years.
"This was just another freight trip," Chris McIntosh said.
The plane was carrying four tons of car parts it had picked up in Hamilton, Canada, for a General Motors plant in Ramos Arizpe, McNeff said. The plane cleared customs in Shreveport, La., before heading to Ramos Arizpe.
"There was nothing unique about this trip. The routing was not unusual," McNeff said.
Mexican authorities were investigating the crash, and a team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board was expected to join the investigation Monday, McNeff said.
Middletown is about 30 miles north of Cincinnati.
