See: http://www.komotv.com/news/10316012.html

Anyone flying in the White pass area please keep an eye out.

TD

Bad Deal !

Here is some more info, I've read this several times and can't decide if there were 9 skydivers plus the pilot or if they are counting the pilot as a skydiver that was also the pilot... Hard to tell.

Plane carrying 9 from Snohomish is missing near Yakima
By Christina Siderius

Nine skydivers from the Snohomish area were among the passengers on a plane that was reported missing on a flight from Star, Idaho, to Shelton, Mason County, last night.

The group was returning from a skydiving event near Boise Sunday night and was scheduled to return at 2 a.m., according to an employee from Skydive Kapowsin, which owns the plane.

Elaine Harvey, spokeswoman for Skydive Snohomish, confirmed the passengers aboard were from the Snohomish area and some were members of the group that operates out of Harvey Field.

The plane, a single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan that officials said was carrying up to 10 people, disappeared from radar Sunday night near the Rimrock Lake area, about 45 miles west of Yakima.

Yakima County Search and Rescue officials said a hunter reported hearing a small plane with engine trouble about 8 p.m. and heard what might have been a crash southwest of Rimrock Lake.

Washington State Department of Transportation officials said there have been no emergency distress signals from the plane, but radar tracking confirmed it disappeared in about the same area that the hunter reported hearing a crash.

A ground search began Sunday night and an air search has been under way since first light in the Rimrock area.

Wreckage of Missing Plane Found in Wash.
By SHANNON DININNY,AP
Posted: 2007-10-09 01:03:09
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - Ground searchers found the wreckage Monday of a plane carrying nine skydivers and a pilot that crashed in the rugged central Washington Cascades.

There was no immediate word on whether there were any survivors.

The aircraft was found about 7:40 p.m. PDT and searchers were able to verify by serial numbers that it was the missing aircraft, said Yakima County Emergency Management spokeswoman Tina Wilson.

The missing Cessna 208 Grand Caravan left Star, Idaho, near Boise, Sunday evening en route to Shelton, Wash., northwest of Olympia, but did not arrive as scheduled.

The plane was returning from a skydiving meet in Idaho when it disappeared.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

Just saw on the news that they accounted for all of the crew and pax, no survivors.

Tragic.

Anyone know what the WX was that day?

Idaho Supercub

Now CNN is reporting that 3 bodies are missing, 10 people total on the aircraft, and the back half of the aircraft hasn't been found.

Properly maintained, the PT6 is pretty bullet proof. It will be interesting to find out what happened. Weather was reported as being "good".

I saw the reports of the plane being in two pieces and the tail missing. Makes you wonder about structural failure from ???? Also, it will be likely the other three will be found somewhere between the tail and the rest of the wreck.

You never know, maybe three of the passengers got to their chutes and were able to get out, in which case they could be miles from any of the wreckage.

I hate to think they might of had an in flight break up and were within reach of chutes and were somehow unable to make use of them or didn't have time to get out.

N6EA wrote:I hate to think they might of had an in flight break up and were within reach of chutes and were somehow unable to make use of them or didn't have time to get out.

Combo of good weather and bullet proof PT6 makes me think that some young pilot may have flown up a canyon instead of down said canyon and just flew into something hard.

Gump

The aircraft was lost from radar at 8pm, that would have made it dark at the time of the crash. The sheriff told the media that the aircraft was found "200 yards from the last radar ping site." I was wondering at what altitude were they flying. The higher they were, the steeper the descent in only 200 yards. For those of you familiar with the area, what is the terrain like and how high to you need to be to clear it all vs. how high to have radar coverage?

I attended a talk by the CEO of United Technologies the other day. They manufacture P & W engines, including the PT 6. He allowed as how they've improved the in flight shutdown rate on the PT 6 from one every 80,000 hours to one every 400,000 hours.

Nevertheless, there is a measurable failure rate of these engines.

Abuse them with hot starts, and the rate skyrockets.

Generally great engines, though.

Let's pray those three are out there hiking around looking for a ride home....

MTV

MTV,

Yeah you are right. I should have said "Properly maintained and flown..."

See: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/642 ... Plane.html

Looks as if the plane went in at a "steep angle" . Could be a number of things.

The tail could have become separated due to the steep terrain. Goat Rocks is a really rugged area.

I have heard no reports of a radio call and at that point there would have been a pretty clear path to the Yakima RCO.

Sunday afternoon was raining and had some wind in the Seattle area.

Flight was on a VFR flight plan.

TD

I just heard on the national news that it was a Cessna Citation...........can't these reporters ever get it right?

Sounds like scud-running to me. Does anyone know the qualifications of the pilot?


Idaho SuperCub

Well it was bound to happen.

The family of the skydivers have sued Cessna. I guess Cessna has deeper pockets than the estate of a part time pilot.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/642 ... ivers.html