Plane, missing Battle Ground pilot found on Mount HoodFree
Body found at site identified as George Regis
By Jack Heffernan, Columbian
county government and small cities reporter
Published: January 29, 2019, 6:05pm
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George Regis, 63, of Battle Ground has been missing since Friday when he took off in this plane from Grove Field Airport in Camas. (Clark County Sheriff's Office)
Authorities located a downed plane Tuesday on Mount Hood that had been missing since it took off Friday afternoon from Grove Field Airport in Camas. The pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft was killed in the crash, according to the Hood River, Ore., County Sheriff’s Office.
The deceased was identified as George Regis, 63, of Battle Ground. His wife reported him missing Monday, the sheriff’s office said.
Regis took off from the airfield around noon in a 1975 Rockwell Commander 112A — a fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said Monday. He was believed to have been en route to Arizona, and cellphone data pinged his last known location Saturday near Newberg, Ore., the sheriff’s office said.
Pilots taking off from the Camas airport typically don’t have a flight plan, according to the sheriff’s office.
Hood River County authorities were notified earlier Tuesday by the Clackamas County, Ore., Sheriff’s Office of new flight path information for Regis’ plane, according to a news release.
The Civil Air Patrol located a signal from the plane’s emergency locator and narrowed down its location to the area of Eliot Glacier, on the north side of Mount Hood. A Civil Air Patrol pilot flew over the area at about 3:15 p.m., spotted the downed plane and visually confirmed it was Regis’ aircraft, based on the tail number, the news release states.
An Oregon Air National Guard helicopter also flew over the scene minutes later and confirmed it was Regis’ plane, and located a body, according to the news release.
Regis’ family has been notified and a recovery operation — consisting of the Hood River Crag Rats, Oregon Air National Guard’s 125th Special Tactics Squadron and Air Force Reserve Command’s 304th Rescue Squadron — will begin in the morning, the news release said.
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