Identified: Pilot who crashed his plane at Stevens Point Airshow Sunday

STEVENS POINT (AP) -- The pilot who died when his aerobatic plane crashed at a Wisconsin air show was an experienced commercial aviator who also flew in the military.

Police say 47-year-old William Cowden, of Menomonie, was performing aerial stunts at the Stevens Point Municipal Airport Sunday afternoon when he crashed in a wooded area.

He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

Cowden told a Stevens Point Journal Media reporter before he began the show that he flew F-16s in the U.S. Air Force and later became a commercial pilot for Delta Air Lines.

Cowden said he started flying aerobatic planes because it rekindled the thrill he got from flying F-16s.

Police say the crash scene has been turned over to federal investigators.