Cropduster crashes outside of Glenns Ferry

A cropduster fixed wing single-engine aircraft crashed seven miles south of Glenns Ferry on Noble Road around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday morning, killing the pilot.

The pilot, James Howard Nau, 21, of Melba, was pronounced dead at the scene. The single-seat aircraft he was flying is owned by Valley Air Services of Caldwell.

Nau apparently was flying with another cropduster at the time and was "hovering" while waiting for the other plane to be reloaded. The two pilots had been spraying fertilizer on fields in the area since about 6 a.m. that morning.

According to Sheriff Rick Layher, Nau had about 2,000 of flying time, although he had only begun working as a cropduster in the last year.

The plane was a 1964 Snow S2C that was being flown out of Hubler Airfield between Caldwell and Middleton.

Valley Air Services, in a brief statement concerning the death of their pilot, said that Nau was a "man whose time came far too soon. We will sorely miss him. Please respect the privacy of his family and friends in their time of grief."

Authorities from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were on their way to the scene of the crash to begin their investigation.

The area was secured by the Elmore County Sheriff's Office, whose deputies were the first to arrive at the scene.

Although LifeFlight was alerted, it was canceled by the county dispatcher after deputies arrived on scene and determined the pilot did not survive the crash. The Glenns Ferry extrication unit was called to help remove the body from the wreckage.

No additional details were immediately available, and it could be months before the official cause of the crash is released by FAA and NTSB investigators.