Portland businessman was alone in jet that crashed on Warm Springs Reservation

Video evidence, DNA tests confirm solo flight; medical emergency suspected

WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (KTVZ) – Video evidence and DNA testing have confirmed that only one person – the pilot, a Portland businessman – was aboard a twin-engine business jet that crashed two weeks ago in the Mutton Mountains on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, police said Monday.

“Although the original flight plan indicated two persons on board, the pilot, who was identified as Richard Boehlke, 72, was the only person in the aircraft,” Warm Springs Tribal Police Lt. Ron Gregory told NewsChannel 21. “This was confirmed through video at the originating airport and later through DNA testing on the remains.”

Boehlke was flying his Cessna C560 jet on a filed flight plan from Troutdale, east of Portland, to Boise when it crashed the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 9 in the Mutton Mountains, located in the northeast corner of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

No official cause for the crash has been released, Gregory said. However, he added, the “FAA did confirm that during his last transmissions, it sounded like Boehlke was slurring his words, possibly indicating some sort of medical issue, but nothing beyond that has been confirmed.”

Gregory said the FAA records indicated the Cessna had climbed up toward the 37,000-foot ceiling but “got to about 31,000 feet and was just sort of taking this nosedive, making a circular pattern.”

Though the cockpit voice and flight data recorder were recovered from the crash scene, Gregory said, “We may never be able to know exactly what caused the crash -- at least for a while.”

The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on the crash investigation is likely to be released within the next week or so, according to Christopher O’Neil, NTSB’s chief of media relations in Washington, D.C..

Federal Aviation Administration records show the plane, built in 1989, was owned by SX Transport LLC, with an address on Northeast Marine Drive of a houseboat where Boehlke lived.

Boehlke is listed in his LinkedIn profile as the 15-year chairman and CEO of Senexus Companies of Portland and previously was co-founder, chairman and CEO of Alterra Healthcare (Brookdale Senior Living.)

FAA records also indicate the model of twin-engine Cessna jet Boehlke was flying requires two pilots or a waiver, which he apparently did not have. Gregory said he also had heard the model of aircraft required having two people aboard.