OTA Chairman Killed in Plane Crash

The chairman of the Oregon Trucking Associations was among four people killed Jan. 6 when the small plane they were flying in crashed and burned about 30 miles southwest of Portland, Ore.

Kenneth Booze, owner of Eastern Oregon Fast Freight, his son Daniel and Jeff Prinz, the company’s maintenance and safety director were killed when the plane crashed into the side of a mountain, according to Federal Aviation Administration officials. Pilot Jack McGee was also killed in the crash.

Mr. Booze was en route from La Grande, Ore., to Aurora, Ore, when the plane went down around 6 p.m., according to the FAA.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Mr. McGee lost radio contact shortly before the crash, FAA investigator Jim Reed told the Associated Press. A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was en route to the scene Jan. 7.

Mr. Booze began a two-year term as chairman of OTA in September and devoted much of his time to trying to repeal the state’s weight distance tax, said John Sallak, OTA executive vice president.

"He put in so much time for the association we teased him about putting him on the payroll," Mr. Sallak said.

Mr. Booze had recently purchased the six-seat Beechcraft Baron twin engine aircraft and used it to keep tabs on his far-flung LTL company, which had 16 terminals along Oregon’s Interstate 5 corridor, Mr. Sallak said.

Daniel Booze, a college student, was about to begin a internship with the Oregon Legislature that OTA had helped him obtain, Mr. Sallak said. Mr. Prinz was president of OTA’s Maintenance Council.