Dead Celebrity Alert

BURLINGTON — The pilot of a plane that crashed in Skagit County over the weekend had been flying for 34 years and was known throughout the world for his aerobatic stunt flying.

Eric Anthony Beard, 47, of Auburn died Friday night in a crash of his twin-engine Piper aircraft near Skagit Regional Airport, the Skagit County Sheriff’s Department said. His name was released Saturday by deputy coroner Bob Clark.

Beard, who learned to fly at 14 by taking lessons at a Georgia crop-dusting strip, died in what apparently was a routine flight for Seattle-based Airpac Airlines. … Read full obituary

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