Darrell Ward, star of Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel, was killed on Sunday afternoon in a tragic plane crash.
He was 52 years old.
According to a local Fox affiliate in Montana, Ward was co-piloting the Cessna 182 when he attempted to land it at Rock Creek Airport.
However, it crashed near the eastbound lanes on the shoulder off of I-90 after it stalled out while approaching the private airstrip.
Ward had been scheduled to start filming for the upcoming season of the widely-viewed reality series this winter.
A press release states that he was headed to Missoula Montana after stopping by The Great American Truck Show in Dallas to begin shooting the pilot for a new documentary type of show.
The new series was going to, ironically, focus on the recovery of plane wrecks.
Ward’s co-pilot also died in yesterday’s accident.
A message on Ward’s Facebook confirmed the news of his tragic passing. It reads:
It’s with great sadness to report we have lost our Montana Legend at the young age of 52.
Darrell Ward had just left The Great American Truck Show in Dallas, Texas where he enjoyed meeting numerous fans and friends and was heading to Missoula to begin filming a pilot for his new documentary style show involving the recovery of plane wrecks when he and his co-pilot crashed and lost their lives.
An investigation is ongoing and more information will be made available at a later time as the National Transportation Safety Board will be handling they investigation.
They things Darrell loved most were his family including his kids and grand-kids & trucking.
Darrell Ward rose to fame with his role on the extremely popular History Channel’s reality show, Ice Road Truckers.
Darrell just finished filming Season X earlier this year for the show and had just learned that he had a green light this past weekend for an additional season on the show originally slated to begin filming in the winter of 2017.
When Darrell wasn’t hitting the Ice Roads he would be back in Montana doing what Darrel loved best as a log hauler and occasionally helped local authorities fight forest fires.
Trucking has always been a large part of Darrell’s life; from running the harvest rigs with his grandparents and family, to driving trucks from Montana to Alaska and all roads in between.
In his free time, you could usually find Darrell giving back to the community any chance he got, he had promoted the most recent food drive to help victims in the Louisiana Floods and was scheduled to appear as the grand marshal for the Truck Convoy for Special Olympics in Nova Scotia.
In his free time, Darrell enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, dirt bike riding and all things outdoors. A self-proclaimed “ADRENALINE JUNKIE”, Darrell was up for any adventure.
His motto, “ANY ROAD, ANY LOAD” fits his personality perfectly.
While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief. His manager and best friend M. Bob Stanton and long time friend Chuck Campbell are expected to make a lengthier statement shortly.
Ward starred on Ice Road Truckers for four seasons.
Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family members, friends and loved ones.