2 area men die in plane crash
Published 9:00 pm Friday, June 9, 2006
A business trip to Montana to do aircraft inspections ended Thursday in a mountaintop plane crash that took the lives of two Snohomish County men.
Pilot Richard Owen Rogers, 62, of Everett, and Gene Douglas McLaughlin, 39, of Arlington, were killed in the crash.
The plane was flying from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to Missoula, Mont., said McLaughlin’s boss, Jerry Nast, 49, of Arlington.
The 1980 Cessna crashed sometime between 1 and 2 p.m. Thursday on Lookout Pass, which straddles the border between Idaho and Montana, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office in Wallace, Idaho.
Visibility at the pass was hampered by fog and light rain, according to the sheriff’s office.
Nast said he was told the plane crashed at 6,100 feet elevation.
“Rick’s plane had a ceiling about twice that,” Nast said. “He’s done that trip several times. Rick was instrument rated. The plane clipped a wing on a tree. I don’t know why they were that low.”
For Nast, news of the crash was a shock on a personal and professional level, he said.
Nast is the Everett division manager of Acuren, a LaPorte, Texas, company that inspects equipment, buildings and bridges for fatigue or cracking.
The company also specializes in aircraft inspection, he said, and McLaughlin was his lead inspector.
“He was steadfast, real practical, always someone you could count on,” Nast said.
Nast hired McLaughlin several years ago. He also started hiring Rogers as a pilot and airport shuttle driver about the same time.
“He was just a super guy, always a smile on the guy,” Nast said of Rogers. “We’ve all logged quite a few (flight) hours with him.”
The two men started their trip from Paine Field in Everett and stopped in Coeur d’Alene for refueling. McLaughlin also performed an inspection of the plane at that stop, Nast said.
Employees always had the option to take commercial flights but often chose to fly with Rogers instead, Nast said.
Scheduling was more convenient with Rogers, and the pilot was known to keep his planes well maintained, Nast said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a guy not comfortable, not want to fly with Rick,” Nast said. “It’s just so remarkable how this guy was.”
Nast was with McLaughlin’s family, taking calls from customers and friends of both men from across the country.
The calls demonstrated to Nast how respected and loved both men were, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
