The Camas pilot who crashed his plane Monday afternoon southeast of La Center was flying for a mandated test required every two years.
Milo Luther Kays, 73, was taking part in a biennial flight review when his plane crashed, killing him and his passenger, 70-year-old Ridgefield resident Dennis R. Kozacek, according to National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson. Kozacek was a certified flight instructor, Knudson said.
“Every two years, pilots are required to go up with an instructor and go through flight procedures, things like that,” Knudson said. “That was the purpose of this flight.”
A pilot flying over a marshy area south of the East Fork Lewis River reported seeing the crash site at 4:11 p.m. at the end of Bjur Road off Northeast 269th Street, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. While circling overhead, the pilot directed emergency personnel to the scene.
Clark County Fire & Rescue and sheriff’s deputies found a Vans RV-6 — a small, single-engine, two-seater aircraft constructed from a kit — in about 2 feet of water.
The men found inside, later identified as Kays and Kozacek, both seasoned pilots, appeared to have died on impact, the sheriff’s office said. Both men died of multiple blunt-force injuries, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, and their deaths were ruled an accident.
It’s still unknown why the airplane crashed.
An NTSB investigator finished their on-scene inspection and analysis Wednesday. The fuselage of the plane was intact, Knudson said. An insurance company coordinated the removal of the plane from the pond before it was hauled to the Seattle area for another examination, he said.
No witnesses to the crash were found. In general, an NTSB investigator reaches out to people who called local authorities after having witnessed a plane go down. That didn’t happen in this instance, Knudson said. Anyone who may have seen the plane crash should email witness@ntsb.gov.
The preliminary report should take about two weeks to complete. The NTSB will work with the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies to determine what led to the crash.
The Vans RV-6 plane was registered to Kays, and FAA records indicate he built it in 1990.
Kozacek had been flying since age 19, according to a 2018 story in the Camas-Washougal Post-Record, and had a successful career as a Navy pilot and with FedEx for 31 years.
Both Kozacek and Kays were members of the Camas-Washougal Aviation Association, the group’s president, Kent Mehrer, said Thursday. They both owned hangars at Grove Field Airport in Camas, where the association is based.
Mehrer said he’s received numerous phone calls from the more than 40 members of the association since the crash. In January, the airfield grappled with another fatal crash when the body of George Regis, 63, of Battle Ground, was found on Mount Hood near his downed plane. He had flown out of Grove Field days earlier.
The last time the airfield had a similar event, Mehrer said, was in 2012 when his father, Wilbert “Skeets” Mehrer, 84, died after his 1960 Piper Comanche crashed near Grove Field.
“It actually is a very rare event,” Kent Mehrer said.
Group members have speculated about the cause of Monday’s crash, Mehrer said. Some have mentioned that a strong, high-altitude storm presented perilous conditions. The lengthy, grassy area at Daybreak Field, near where Kays and Kozacek were found, is one of the most popular spots locally for practicing landing, Mehrer said.
Kays, commonly referred to as Luther, flew out of Grove Field for more than 40 years. Mehrer didn’t know Kays well but said he was respected by other pilots.
“He was an excellent pilot, very safe and conscientious,” Mehrer said.
Kozacek was a regular at Grove Field. During the Eagle Creek Fire in 2017, Kozacek and his son, Carter Kozacek, flew food to residents stranded behind the fire wall, Mehrer said.
“A lot of flying experience there and a great personality with it,” Mehrer said. “It’s going to be a big gap that’s been created, and it’s going to be hard to fill it.”
