Paul Ehlen, Founder of Precision Lens, Dies when Vintage Airplane Crashes in Montana

Paul Ehlen, the founder of Minnesota-based ophthalmic distributor Precision Lens, died June 27 when his vintage plane crashed shortly after takeoff at an airport in Montana, The Associated Press reported.

Ehlen was piloting the plane that went down at 8:07 a.m. at the Ravalli County Airport, the company’s chief financial officer, Bill Henneman, confirmed to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The aircraft was a World War II vintage P-40E registered with the Federal Aviation Administration to one of Ehlen’s LLCs.

“Precision Lens is saddened by the passing earlier today of its founder Paul Ehlen,” the company said in a statement. “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.”

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, authorities said.

Tributes on social media hailed Ehlen and his commitment to preserving aviation history. Wings of the North, a Minnesota nonprofit group that restores vintage aircraft and hosts the annual AirExpo fly-in and air show, posted on its Facebook page that Ehlen was a longtime friend and benefactor. “Our hearts are broken. Paul will be missed by everyone in the aviation community as well as his many friends,” the post read.

Ehlen was alone on the plane and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release from the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office. The airport is in Hamilton, Montana, near Missoula, where Ehlen had a home.

The crash came just months after Ehlen and Precision Lens were found to have violated the federal anti-kickback statute and the False Claims Act.

In February, a federal civil jury found Precision Lens and majority owner Ehlen liable for providing illegal kickbacks to induce surgeons to use its products.

The Justice Department said Precision Lens and Ehlen provided kickbacks to physicians in various forms, including travel and entertainment. Trips included high-end skiing, fishing, golfing, hunting, sporting, and entertainment vacations, often at exclusive destinations.

During a six-week trial before US District Judge Wilhelmina Wright, jurors found Precision’s kickbacks caused the submission of 64,575 false claims to the Medicare program from 2006 to 2015 in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act.

Jurors returned a judgment of $43.7 million. However, in May, Wright entered a higher judgment of $487 million, agreeing with federal prosecutors who had requested more severe damages.

Precision Lens, at that time, said it planned to appeal the decision and called the judgment an “unconscionable windfall.”