A 16 yr old girl walked through the woods in the North Cascades for two days, until a driver spotted her at a trailhead near a rural Washington town Monday afternoon. Serena Lockwood manages the Mazama store, and she says she was just in disbelief when Autumn Veatch told her story about how she survived a plane crash. The teenager said she'd been walking through the forest since Saturday trying to find someone to help her.
"She had like some branches and twigs in her jacket and some scrapes on her face, but I think the main thing was she just seemed in shock," said Lockwood.

The plane took off from Kalispell, Montana dropped of the radar near Omak, Washington on Saturday afternoon.

Washington State Department of Transportation provided a timeline of Saturday’s events (All times are in Pacific Daylight Time).
1:01 p.m. – Plane departs Kalispell, Montana, Saturday, July 11, headed for Lynden, Washington.
2:21 p.m. – Plane crosses Idaho/Washington state line, near Newport, Washington
2:21 p.m. – Plane drops off radar near Omak, Washington
2:21 p.m.– Last signal from a plane occupant’s cellphone, roughly near Omak, Washington
4:05 p.m. – Time plane was expected to arrive in Lynden, Washington (based on visual flight plan filed before take-off). Plane did not arrive.
The Federal Aviation Administration and family contacted authorities late Saturday night when the plane did not arrive on schedule. The first search plane launched at 6 a.m. Sunday.

The teen, picked up on Highway 20 near Easy Pass trailhead, gave enough information to lead crews to the general area where the plane is located. "This is a particularly rugged area and right now the weather is not cooperating but we're hoping that it clears up," said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Lustick with the Civil Air Patrol. They were grounded most of Monday morning due to weather conditions.

CAP interview on TV last night indicated it looked like VFR into IFR and then failure maintain adequate "air to ground separation".

Again, that is not my assessment, that is what CAP indicated in an TV interview based on the young girls account.

Very sad and hoping for the best for the remaining two........

VFR into IMC......uhhhgggg please don't do this people....

I think they stopped at Cabin Creek on their way out to fuel...I remember seeing a Bonanza fly over my place on Sat afternoon. I was thinking to myself that you just don't see them as often as we used to. Sad deal. Glad the girl survived!
John

Sad story.

I obviously have no idea what happened but IF someone flew a Bonanza VFR into IMC in the Cascades (in the summer at least with high icing levels) it seems to me that engaging the autopilot (if present), firewalling it and pitching to Vy and declaring an emergency would get you clear of all hard objects. Then mentally regroup and get vectors to a VFR airport.

Not speculating what happened, just sharing a personal escape strategy.

My hope and prayer is that he stayed in contact with the ground until he got it down in survivable condition.

Mountain Doctor wrote:Sad story.

I obviously have no idea what happened but IF someone flew a Bonanza VFR into IMC in the Cascades (in the summer at least with high icing levels) it seems to me that engaging the autopilot (if present), firewalling it and pitching to Vy and declaring an emergency would get you clear of all hard objects. Then mentally regroup and get vectors to a VFR airport.

Not speculating what happened, just sharing a personal escape strategy.

Single Engine airplane - 1) Night time 2) Mountains or 3) IMC - Pick only one. That's my strategy.

DBI wrote:CAP interview on TV last night indicated it looked like VFR into IFR and then failure maintain adequate "air to ground separation".

Again, that is not my assessment, that is what CAP indicated in an TV interview based on the young girls account.

Very sad and hoping for the best for the remaining two........

Yep, the CAP is certainly the expert when it comes to analyzing airplane accidents, especially before they've even started looking for the wreckage......

Can't anybody resist speculating on these tragedies until the dust settles a bit, and someone with some actual knowledge offers some FACTS?

There are people out there who READ these things, and have connections to the people involved.

Good grief!

MTV

It does appear to be a non-IR pilot getting into IMC, most unfortunately. Those of us who fly in the mountains this time of year know that circumnavigating storms in the afternoon is par for the course, but sometimes it's not possible. Plan B has to be to set it down and wait it out, since often enough, flying light GA in IMC over the mountains is not advisable and often not possible.

Cary

DBI wrote:
CAP interview on TV last night indicated it looked like VFR into IFR and then failure maintain adequate "air to ground separation".

Again, that is not my assessment, that is what CAP indicated in an TV interview based on the young girls account.

Very sad and hoping for the best for the remaining two........

Yep, the CAP is certainly the expert when it comes to analyzing airplane accidents, especially before they've even started looking for the wreckage......

Can't anybody resist speculating on these tragedies until the dust settles a bit, and someone with some actual knowledge offers some FACTS?

There are people out there who READ these things, and have connections to the people involved.

I suspected someone would call reporting a news report "speculation". That is exactly why I repeated the reference twice that it was a television/news report. These links and posts are referenced throughout all of our threads here on BCP. It is one data point, as the thread title indicates "accident analysis". Most here understand news reports are to be taken with a grain of salt and are only one part of the ultimate facts. If you are offended by reporting of a news story that has been viewed by thousands ( or millions) maybe we should not have this thread forum. No speculation here just reporting the "public information". I understand from previous posts your disdain for CAP and maybe that had something to do with your response. Thoughts and prayers for the family.

Googlemap of the Easy pass trail head location on highway 20. The trail goes up to the west from the highway.
www.google.com/maps/place/48%C2%B035'16 ... !1s0x0:0x0

I can only imagine what that girl when through

https://soundcloud.com/kxly-news-radio- ... h-survivor

If it was a non IR pilot, that's a heck of a trip and a heck of a cross country machine for not being IFR capable.

That poor girl. I got chills when she said "burns on my hands." What an ordeal to hike out that far after going through that. North Cascades is some extreme terrain.

I too, was disappointed with CAP. I instructed for a couple of squadrons in NM. Nice old men who had no concept of visual reconnaissance or even getting through the red tape to just go out and look.

Been back and forth through there a few times over the years, sometimes in crap weather. I follow the North Cascades Highway, or if I shortcut I'll come up Lake Chelan and then work my way up to Rainy Pass. From there follow the highway to Concrete. Same back the other way. In the stuff I fly, you don't ever go IMC.

Hell, I don't even like tight corners like Snoqualmie Pass or Stevens Pass when they're clagged in and you can't see that next 1/4 mile around them to be 100% sure you can stay visual once you commit. North Cascades has the same, but not until you get much lower between the Ross Dam and Marblemount. And by then you're usually out of that clag that sticks to the mountains.

Best hedge is an IR. I got mine as soon as I finished my PPL. I don't fly IFR often (enough practice approaches to stay current) but it has been a life saver more than once.

Terrible tragedy and should be used as a lesson.

Incredible story an courage of this young girl. She hiked a day down to a river, then followed the river to a road where she got a ride to a market to call 911. I wonder how many other teenagers would have the smarts and courage to do that?

But yeah, another fine example why a tracking device like SPOT and especially a 406 ELT would be very helpful.

TV this morning was reporting another airplane missing in the North Cascades / Whatcom County area- this one on a flight from Minnesota to Orcas Island. No mention of type aircraft or specific area where search was to be concentrated.

But yeah, another fine example why a tracking device like SPOT and especially a 406 ELT would be very helpful.

Spot yes. ELT didn't seem to be very helpful at all, 406 or 121.5.. Plane went missing Saturday afternoon, they started search Sunday morning. Had no idea where the plane was until the survivor hiked out on Monday noon. SAR Techs I work with say ELT's only work in 20% of crashes, and it didn't work in this one. If you look at the last contact (using cellphone technology, again eclipsing the historical value of an ELT) it was Omak. That's a long ways from the crash site but at least better than the "conventional" aviation industry wisdom of flight following, flight plans, and ELT. Had the searchers on Sunday morning had a (much) smaller area to search they may have found the aircraft and possibly the survivor that was in the open on a sandbar.

FWIW, my SPOT on the dash works reliably in these parts. And I always give my passenger the spare SPOT I have to keep in their pocket "just in case". If this survivor had had a SPOT in her pocket she would have been picked up hours after the crash.