WAVERLY - A member of the Wartburg College board of regents died earlier this month, the victim of a mid-air collision of two small aircraft.

Dr. Ralph Otto, 63, of Wilmette, Ill., was killed Aug. 10 when his plane was struck by a Cessna 172 near Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport in Wyoming.

Dr. Michael Downey of Columbus, Ohio, a passenger in Otto's plane, and Dave Knezovich, the other pilot, were also killed.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Otto and Downey were traveling from Montana.

Otto's plane was cleared to land and was on approach to the airport when the collision occurred. Knezovich was on a solo student flight.

Otto was described as an avid pilot and enthusiastic member of the Flying Physicians Association, in a statement released by Wartburg College. He graduated from Wartburg with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology in 1963 and went on to earn a medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1967.

He was a cardiothoracic surgeon at Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago. Otto had served on the college's board of regents since February 1992 and was a member of the academic affairs committee and committee on board affairs.

The death comes as the Wartburg community mourns a former regents' apparent murder. Todd Bachman was fatally stabbed by an assailant in Beijing, China. He was attending the Olympics with his wife, Barbara, and daughter, whose husband coaches the U.S. men's volleyball team.