Fan Favorite 'Ice Road Truckers' Star Darrell Ward Passed Away in a Fatal Plane Crash in 2016

In 2007, the History Channel launched a show documenting the long and dangerous journeys truckers take to remote areas of Canada and Alaska. Ice Road Truckers was a fan favorite as viewers tuned in to watch these drivers navigate over frozen lakes and rivers to deliver supplies to small towns. 

In 2012, fans were introduced to Darrell Ward whose motto was, "Any road, any load." Risking their lives for the job was certainly a theme of this show. However, after wrapping Season 10 of the show, the reality star was killed in August 2016. In regards to what happened to the Ice Road Truckers star, Darrell was sadly involved in a fatal plane crash at the age of 52.  

"Darrell Ward had just left The Great American Truck Show in Dallas, Texas where he enjoyed meeting numerous fans and friends and was heading to Missoula to begin filming a pilot for his new documentary style show involving the recovery of plane wrecks when he and his co-pilot crashed and lost their lives,” a statement on his Facebook memorial page read.  

According to Deadline, "The plane crashed into the south side shoulder of the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 near the Rock Creek exit and then caught fire.”  

Unfortunately, since Season 11 came to an end, Ice Road Truckers has not been renewed by the History Channel. 

"Those TV guys from Hollywood are a bunch of bums! We have made Ice Road Truckers for 11 years," driver Alex Debogorski wrote on his Facebook page. "You would think they would call and say kiss my rear, hello or …It’s March and I have not heard a peep from those guys so I guess the show is in the dust bin of history [sic]." 

A press statement revealed that Darrell was set to return for Season 11 of the reality show before his untimely death. 

Described as a man of compassionate, the long-time trucker was someone that would frequently give back to his community. 

"He had promoted the most recent food drive to help victims in the Louisiana Floods and was scheduled to appear as the grand marshal for the Truck Convoy for Special Olympics in Nova Scotia,” the press release stated. When he was not driving trucks, he would be in his home state of Montana, “hunting, fishing, camping, dirt bike riding, and all things outdoors.” 

Many fans have posted on the show’s official Facebook site asking for the return on Ice Road Truckers. However, History Channel’s response has been to promote other series on  the social media page. Most recently — much to the dismay of fans — the network shared a trailer of their newest show, The American Farm, which premiered this month. 

Since Season 12 of Ice Road Truckers hasn’t been greenlit, we’re just going to have to binge-watch past episodes. 

Our thoughts are with Darrell's family and friends. Relive Darrell's best Ice Road Truckers moments on History.com