THE founder of a successful medical supply company has died after being involved in a single-engine plane crash involving a vintage World War II-era aircraft.
Paul Ehlen, the owner of Precision Lens in Bloomington, Minnesota, died on Tuesday morning shortly after taking off from Hamilton Airport in Montana.
The Curtiss Wright P-40E aircraft went down at around 8am on private farmland in Hamilton, about 50 miles south of Missoula, after experiencing a mechanical failure on takeoff, Precision Lens said in a statement.
Ehlen was the pilot and sole occupant in the aircraft, the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office said.
The Precision Lens owner died on impact, police said.
"Precision Lens is saddened by the passing earlier today of its founder Paul Ehlen," the company said in a statement to Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE.
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"Paul had a passion for restoring and flying vintage military aircraft, and he was killed this morning when the single-engine P-40 he was flying back to Minneapolis suffered a mechanical failure on takeoff.
"Above all else, Paul was a family man, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and children whom he loved so dearly."
Precision Lens is a leading distributor of ophthalmic surgical products based out of Minnesota, according to its website.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
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In February, Ehlen was found guilty of violating the federal anti-kickback law and the False Claims Act.
Minnesota prosecutors said Ehlen and Precision Lens paid kickbacks to surgeons for using their products in cataract surgeries, which were reimbursed by Medicare.
The Minnesota US Attorney’s Office says the company had a secret fund for inducements, providing trips including high-end skiing, fishing, golfing, hunting, sporting, and entertainment vacations.
A civil jury ordered the company to pay a $487million restitution.
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