http://www.codyenterprise.com/news/local/article_0231bb44-d9f9-11e3-9dc4-0019bb2963f4.html
A small airplane missing nearly a week was found Monday morning on the eastern flanks of Howell Mountain, about 4.5 miles south of Eagle Creek Trailhead on the upper North Fork.
The sheriff’s office said the pilot of a helicopter from Worland spotted the plane wreckage while searching the area.
TCT West
Authorities were trying to reach the crash scene Monday afternoon. Avalanche danger at the scene was high and a larger helicopter was being brought in to help determine the status of the occupants. The plane, with heavy front end damage and one wing torn off, is settled in a steep ravine.
Two elderly brothers flew out of Yellowstone Regional Airport bound for Twin Falls, Idaho, last Tuesday and have not been heard from since.
According to the Park County Sheriff’s Office, pilot Robert Zimmerman, 84, of Huntsville, Ala., and his brother Ward Zimmerman, 86, of Seattle, Wash., landed at YRA on Monday, May 5, on their way to the Seattle area with a stopover in Twin Falls.
On Saturday the Twin Falls Police Department contacted the 911 Communications Center in Cody with a request to check with YRA for a 1963 Mooney M20C airplane.
According to relatives of the brothers, while it is not unusual for them to change travel plans, it is unusual for them to be out of touch for so long.
Joel Simmons of Choice Aviation confirmed to authorities the Zimmermans refueled at their facility and, after spending the night in Cody, departed YRA at 11:30 a.m. May 6.
Simmons said weather May 6 limited visibility. Because Robert Zimmerman intended to follow Visual Flight Rules and avoid areas of low visibility he was not required to file a flight plan.
The county Search and Rescue team (SAR) was deployed into the Kitty Creek drainage of the North Fork, based on archived radar data from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center to a point about four miles south of US 14-16-20 and west of Camp Buffalo Bill BSA.
Searchers were unable to detect any transmissions from the plane’s Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT), a device which is activated automatically by a hard landing.
This is the third airplane crash in Park County in the past year. Everyone on board survived the first two incidents.
In October 2013 two men from Alaska suffered minor injuries after their single-engine Piper 180 went down inside the east boundary of Yellowstone, southeast of the east gate road near Sylvan Pass.
In August 2013 the 17-year-old pilot of a Cessna 172 from Billings crashed west of Meeteetse during her first solo flight. She was found by a hunter and taken to the hospital.
http://www.codyenterprise.com/news/local/article_162766ae-dad4-11e3-a846-0019bb2963f4.html
The pilot and passenger of an airplane that crashed up the North Fork are presumed dead, the Park County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
After reviewing aerial photographs and discussions with Search and Rescue personnel, Sheriff Scott Steward concluded the brothers died as a result of the crash.
“Given the damage to the aircraft as well as the extremely harsh environmental conditions in the area, there’s no other conclusion we can make,” Steward said.
Brothers, Robert Zimmerman, 84, of Huntsville, Ala., and Ward Zimmerman, 86, of Seattle, Wash., departed Yellowstone Regional Airport at 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 6, en route to Twin Falls, Idaho via Yellowstone Park.
They were reported missing by family members the following Saturday.
S&R located the plane (a 1963 Mooney M20C aircraft) in the Washakie Wilderness area at 9:19 a.m., Monday, May 12, using a helicopter provided by Sky Aviation of Worland.
The crash site is on the eastern slope of Howell Mountain (about 4.5 miles south of the North Fork Highway at the Buffalo Bill Boy Scout Camp).
The plane was settled in a steep ravine on a 60-degree slope with a large cornice of snow situated above it. S&R reported heavy front-end damage and a wing torn from the plane.
S&R determined the snowpack above the wreckage was unstable and the risk of avalanche was too high to attempt to reach the plane.
A Wyoming Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter (Charlie Company 5-159) flew over the scene of the wreckage Monday to evaluate the possibility of winching a crew member to the site to determine the condition of the occupants.
S&R commander Martin Knapp, accompanying the National Guard, determined the avalanche risk was too high.
“After reviewing the conditions at the site of the wreckage, and taking into account my years of experience in avalanche evaluation and mitigation, I simply could not in good conscience risk any more lives,” Knapp said. “I realize it’s hard for the family of the brothers, but I have been in contact with them and they were in complete agreement with our decision.”
Steward praised S&R for their unselfish sacrifice and persistent determination.
“Our initial team spent over 14 hours in the back country on foot trekking through five feet of snow, over extreme mountainous terrain, in winds of up to 50 mph in an attempt to reach the downed aircraft,” he said. “These people are volunteers and I can’t say enough about their dedication.
“The people of Park County are fortunate to have them available.”
The sheriff’s office will continue monitoring conditions at the site and will begin recovery as soon as possible.
Residents are encouraged to avoid the area due to the avalanche hazard and out of respect for the Zimmerman family.
“Our prayers go out to the family of the Zimmerman brothers. The Park County Sheriff’s Office family wishes to express our sincere condolences,” Steward said.
Sleeping at the stick... 
