Junction City man dies in crash of experimental plane.

Byline: JAIME SHERMAN The Register-Guard

CRESWELL - A 65-year-old Junction City man died Sunday afternoon when his experimental airplane crashed in a field northwest of Creswell.

James R. West, flying the single-engine plane for the first time, was killed in the fiery crash off East West Lane just after 1 p.m. Residents who witnessed the crash called the Lane County sheriff's office.

"It was terrible. I've never seen anything like it," Creswell resident Rose Eldredge said. "I heard it. It was a terrible sound."

Eldredge said she saw black smoke coming from the plane as it spiraled downward and then saw flames engulf the plane as it hit the ground.

"I stood there at the fence ... and I could tell nothing was left," she said.

Eldredge said she went into her house to call the sheriff's office while her husband, Gerry, ran through fields to the crash site.

The airplane was in flames when he arrived, and it was too late to help the man inside, Gerry Eldredge said.

The plane crashed in a sewage drainage field owned by Foster Farms, the poultry processing company. Because of the crash scene's remote location, deputies had to borrow neighbors' four-wheelers to reach the plane.

Fire had destroyed the plane by the time officers arrived. Federal Aviation Administration officials arrived on the scene late Sunday afternoon.

West was semiretired and worked for Comcoa Inc., a printing company in Corvallis.

He got his pilot's license in 1982 and had flown 300 hours in certified aircraft. He purchased the partially made experimental plane in 1994 and then finished it himself in January, said Lucille West, his wife of 21 years.

"His dream was to build and fly his own plane," she said late Sunday afternoon. "I always had a gut feeling I didn't want him to fly."

But she said she never told her husband that she worried about his dream to build his own plane. "He was a very determined man," she said. "When he made up his mind, he was going to do it."

Because experimental aircraft aren't federally certified, pilots need not conform to flight-time training and other federal aviation standards, said Bill Kelly, who owns About Time Aviation at the Creswell Airport.

Kelly said he watched West's single-engine plane take off from the airport east of Interstate 5 and then crash west of the interstate.

"He'd been driving it around and getting used to it and just had the urge to get off the ground," he said.

Kelly said that in the past he'd urged West, who had never before flown the amphibious plane, to fly it only after getting instruction on flying experimental aircraft.

"He wouldn't listen to anyone," Kelly said. "He was determined to fly that plane."

The plane had unusual features that could outsmart a pilot, including a rear engine that pushed the airplane instead of a typical front engine that pulls it. As a result, a slight increase or decrease in speed could cause it to lose altitude, Kelly said.

"I think he was losing power and altitude from what I saw," Kelly said. "He didn't negotiate the proper emergency landing."

Before Sunday, West had cancelled previous attempts to fly the plane because of poor weather, he said.

Lucille West said she was still asleep when her husband left for the Creswell Airport Sunday morning. "All I can do is remember when I saw him last, and we were going to bed," she said. "And I can remember kissing him good night."

In addition to his wife, West is survived by a son and two daughters. At his request, no services will be held.

CAPTION(S):

WAYNE EASTBURN / The Register-Guard The contents of a fire extinguisher mark the site of the fatal crash northwest of Creswell.