Local pilot's body found after crash

The body of Dr. Richard Allen of Sayre, was recovered by Pennsylvania state police yesterday afternoon after his plane crashed Saturday night in the Hammersley Wild Area in Potter County.

At about 3:15 p.m., members of a Pennsylvania state police recovery team removed Allen's body from the plane after a two mile hike through what police called "rugged terrain." A helicopter was used to transport the body to the Denton Hill state police station where Potter County coroner George Locke took the body, police said.

An autopsy will be performed at the Erie County coroner's lab, police said.

Allen's single engine Cessna airplane left University Park Airport, 2535 Fox Hill Rd., Saturday evening bound for the Elmira/Corning Regional Airport in Elmira N.Y., but disappeared en route during a snow storm.

The plane was found yesterday morning, but rescuers were unable to reach it due to weather conditions.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, police said.

Allen was the father of a University student, and an orthopedic specialist at the Guthrie Clinic in Sayre.

-- by Kristin Walpole