United States Department of Justice - Immigration and Naturalization Service - United States Border Patrol, U.S. Government
End of Watch: Friday, October 23, 1998
Age: 53
Tour of Duty: 21 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Aircraft accident
Date of Incident: October 23, 1998
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Pilot Walter Panchison was killed when the Cessna 182 airplane he was piloting crashed in a rugged area on Sumas Mountain in Washington state, approximately 17 miles south of the Canadian border.
Pilot Panchison, the only person on board the plane, was checking on an embedded motion sensor that had been tripped when the crash occurred. The canyon he was checking is a known drug and alien smuggling area.
Pilot Panchison had served with the U.S. Border Patrol for 21 years. He was a former United States Marine fighter pilot who served in Vietnam.