RURAL RETREAT, Va. (WDBJ) - A new plane was dedicated to a fallen Virginia State Police trooper at Mountain Empire Airport in Rural Retreat Friday, October 10.

Lucas B. Dowell, 28 of Chilhowie, was killed in a line of duty while executing a search warrant in Cumberland County in 2019. Dowell was a five-year veteran of the department.

Members of Virginia State Police Aviation Division and former colleagues flew to Mountain Empire Airport to showcase VSP’s new Kodiak Airplane. The plane features the tail number N876VA as a tribute to Trooper Dowell, whose badge number was 876.

Dowell’s family received the opportunity to tour the plane and meet his colleagues, many of whom they are close with personally.

Virginia State Police is in the process of acquiring three Kodiak planes. N876VA is

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