By Dan Parker

Port Aransas Airport Advisory Board Chairman Jim Polewchak died today, Wednesday, Jan. 5, when the small plane he was piloting crashed in Midlothian, according to Dave Parsons, deputy city manager of Port Aransas.

Polewchak and another man were on board when the plane crashed shortly after take-off from an airport at Midlothian, said Parsons, who said he got information on the crash from Midlothian city government officials.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash.

Polewchak began living in Port Aransas, aboard a powerboat, in 2005, but he wasn’t a town resident at the time he died, said Randy Hansen, manager of Mustang Beach Airport.

Polewchak lived in Midlothian, not Port Aransas, but members of the advisory board don’t have to be Port Aransas residents, Hansen said.

An avid pilot, Polewchak owned a hangar at the airport and continued to visit Port Aransas often after he stopped living here, Hansen said.

Polewchak was appointed to the Port Aransas City Council in February 2007 to replace Jerry Watson after Watson died. Polewchak remained in office until the May elections that year. He didn’t seek election to the office.

(Check the Jan. 13 edition of the South Jetty for more details on this story.)