Hiked around Easy pass. Beautiful but rough terrain depending on where it went down. It must have been more on the east side so traveling through terrain tends to be easier. The trails are generally good once one comes across one but knowing which way to go is another matter.

There used to be an airstrip in that area (pasayten airstrip), but closed when they designated the wilderness. Don't know if that would have been any help but a shame since it's one of the few airstrips that would have provided access to really nice back country.

Glad she made it out. What an awful experience.

Ran into a couple of the local CAP pilots at a restraint near KBLI....dressed in their military style jump suits with military style patches and rank bars on their shoulders...more gadgets and do hickies in their many pockets than you could shake a stick at. They were friendly enough but not confidence inspiring.
I posited that the search should have narrowed considerably when the girl walked out as she couldn't have walked very far..."oh she walked for more than two days" was the reply. In that country, if you drew a circle 20 miles (probably less) around where she came on the road, you would encompass the wreck.

This comment from the young lady survivor implies it was indeed VFR into IMC into granite:

'Veatch told authorities the airplane had entered clouds and when it cleared, she saw a mountainside ahead. "When they came out of the clouds, she said it was obvious they were too low."

Terrible but not unexpected.

I think, if it's not already been done, (I'm new here) a discussion (here or elsewhere) on our personal escape strategies may be beneficial for our safety if ever faces with similar circumstances.

I have never seen the need to wax bureaucratic. I was still a Captain in the Guard when I instructed for them. I couldn't make them understand that I didn't want to be saluted. We didn't even do that, except in formal formations, in Army Aviation in the Guard. Usually a Guard formation is just "stand around stand."

Zzz wrote:North Cascades is some extreme terrain.

There is a lot of jackstraw timber off trail in that area too. It was a remarkable exercise in endurance considering the conditions.

Spot yes. ELT didn't seem to be very helpful at all, 406 or 121.5

If you have only a couple of seconds before impacting a mountain side, Spot is probably not much help either.

A 406ELT with continuous GPS update, in contrast to those that only acquire the location after impact, can be triggered in the air via manual switch before impact if you have the time.The ELT then may get out a a number of beeps w/ GPS location before impact and also will solve the inertia switch failure issue. To be clear the 406 units without continuous update can also be manually activated but I am pretty sure they have to go through satellite acquisition from a standing start at activation. At least there should be a 406 signal sent without GPS coordinates.

Also your 406 will probably be TU if the antenna is stripped off in the crash or ends up pointing into the dirt. The "come save my butt" message may never get out in this scenario if one does not trigger before arriving at the scene of the crash.

Things to ponder.

TD

TomD wrote:If you have only a couple of seconds before impacting a mountain side, Spot is probably not much help either.

That depends. I have, and am a big proponent of the high-frequency tracking option for my Spot. A breadcrumb trail of where I was every several minutes (and thus my likely course) would be very helpful in most scenarios. It shrinks the probable search radius exponentially. But yeah without the tracking option we best not be without a little time. Even still, it's always good to have the spot turned on even without the tracking option so it already has a GPS fix, then it can hopefully send out a SOS in just a few seconds.

Sorry Tom, I have to go with Scott on this. Satellite tracking is the real deal. ELT, even with the newer 406 versions with GPS enabling, is what you build if you start in the 1970's and are trying to quell the public response to high profile lost airplanes. Satellite tracking is what you do when you really, actually, don't want to lose an airplane. No inertial trigger to fail.

Troy;

Guess tracking is what I was trying to get over with the GPS signal going out w/ the 406 signal. You get bread crumbs sent to a SNR satellite array that tracks ships and planes 24/7 with no other duties.

Bottom line is you need to be sending data before gong down.

TD

TomD wrote:[

A 406ELT with continuous GPS update, in contrast to those that only acquire the location after impact, can be triggered in the air via manual switch before impact if you have the time.The ELT then may get out a a number of beeps w/ GPS location before impact and also will solve the inertia switch failure issue. To be clear the 406 units without continuous update can also be manually activated but I am pretty sure they have to go through satellite acquisition from a standing start at activation. At least there should be a 406 signal sent without GPS coordinates.

From the time the ELT is triggered until the first position is sent out is 53 seconds by design.

As was kind of eluded to before, not only have Spot but also make sure to show your passengers what it is, where it is, and how to use it. I'm also a proponent of the tracking feature, but even without it, a survivor can manually activate it.

No offense... but sometimes these debates are a bit foolish. (RE: which is better etc...) seems to me that if you are crossing wilderness in an airplane you should be using new gen ELT w/ GPS AND a Spot/Inreach type device.

So glad the girl is ok.

bigrenna wrote:No offense... but sometimes these debates are a bit foolish. (RE: which is better etc...) seems to me that if you are crossing wilderness in an airplane you should be using new gen ELT w/ GPS AND a Spot/Inreach type device.

So glad the girl is ok.

That's a really good point.

As a friend of mine likes to say, "why do without in the land of plenty?"

bigrenna wrote:No offense... but sometimes these debates are a bit foolish. (RE: which is better etc...) seems to me that if you are crossing wilderness in an airplane you should be using new gen ELT w/ GPS AND a Spot/Inreach type device.

So glad the girl is ok.

And your passengers should know where they are and how to operate them. I've been viscerally affected by accidents in the last couple years with a young one that lives, but dies or has difficulty as one of the only survivors. I called SPOT and requested to let my kids activate the 911. I want them to be comfortable activating both of the SPOTs I carry, the ELT, and our cell phones.

[quote][/quote]

The 50 second delay was a surprise to me, so I contacted E.L.T the mfg. of my ELT and got this back:

The 50 second rule is mandated by the international agreement known as Cospas Sarsat.

Evidently since the 406 standards initially were for marine use and then adapted for Aircraft many of the requirements carried over. I can see where in a marine environment it does not make much difference since one will almost always have an unobstructed horizon upon activation.

I understand the the 406 aircraft manufacturers are trying to get this changed since the conditions are different.

Since this is an international standard, multiply the US govt. bureaucracy by the number of other governments involved.

TD

I would add to also use flight following.

Mountain Doctor wrote:I would add to also use flight following.

It's often difficult to stay on radar out there in some areas of the cascades without being above 8,000 ft. Center does their best to inform you and remain with you but I've had them tell me flight following canceled due to poor coverage and to call back in when I get to _____. Maybe the radars up north have better coverage that ours down here.

Absolutley the same up here.

In some places you have to remain pretty high of you'll drop off radar but even then it's nice to have 2 way communication already established in the event of an emergency. It's not perfect but one more tool in the toolkit.

‘Life is way, way too short’: Autumn Veatch’s story of survival

Her grandparents didn’t seem scared. Leland Bowman tried to avoid the clouds and used GPS on a tablet to see where the mountains were. The GPS malfunctioned. They went through a cloud bank, and for a few minutes, all Veatch saw was white. She crouched down behind the front seats.

The rest of the story in the yakima Herald
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/state_ ... aefe2.html

What an awful thing to have to go through!!! Poor kid!!
John