Incline pilot dies in Oregon plane crash

By Argus Observer

ONTARIO, Ore. — An Incline Village man had just left the Ontario Airport Sunday morning and was flying around the Owyhee Dam, when the propeller of his single-engine plane hit a power line, shearing off one of the blades.

The plane, an EA 300LT, went into a flat spin and crashed about 11am, about 2 miles below the Owyhee Dam, killing its pilot and sole passenger, 52-year-old Edward Wilson Claugus.

Edward Wilson Claugus of Incline died June 23 flying near the Oregon-Idaho border. Photo/Troy Colson/KTVB-TV

Claugus had a hangar at the Ontario Airport, according to Malheur County Sgt. Rich Harriman.

Harriman said investigators found a piece of the sheared-off propeller blade some distance from the crash site.

Witnesses said they had seen Claugus flying around the area on Saturday, and that he had landed at Pelican Point that day.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

The dam is on the Owyhee River south of Ontario near the Idaho border.