Man I look at that photo and I cannot see anything that resembles a fuselage. Kudos to those who found it! This is a great example of determination from both the family as well as the search teams.

I have setup a spot and alerted my family to contact bcp in the event that I ever go missing. I know grassstrippilot has done the same.

I think we have started a good movement towards organizing search parties and think we should continue to make progress in each of our states!

Thank you all for what you guys do!

God bless the family and the deceased!

Pretty sure that's a gopro image from an overflight and not a satellite image.

soyAnarchisto wrote:Pretty sure that's a gopro image from an overflight and not a satellite image.

yup, just double checked. You are correct. There was a satellite image that is gone now that directed them there with an overflight. This is from the overflight.

I joined the FB group a couple of weeks ago and tried to keep up with the postings. From what I remember, Wed night, a few people started posting up images from the gopro fly overs and stating they thought they could read an N-number......but the number did not match up. It was really interesting and emotional to see how many people were pouring hours into this search, in front of their computers diligently scanning photographs and the sat images. I believe it was the gopro photos that really gave the clues, although, as the picture above proves, it is still really hard to see anything. Once people started downloading the photographs and zooming in, circling, drawing arrows etc. pieces of the puzzle started coming together. Then they had to link the time of the photo to the recording of the flight to get the position, etc, and I believe they also used the sat images to help with location. It appeared that the main people that found the wreckage had little to no aviation experience. They then got some guys from over at the beech craft site to view the photos and these guys thought they were seeing a TIO520 etc!
Anyway, the snow cat they had to help get up the snowed in roads had already commited to the west side of the valley for Thursday, so it wasn't until today that they were able to get over to the east side (I think) and search the area that the photos revealed. It really heated up and last night as more and more people started posting details they thought they could see.

Anyway, this is just my take on it from an observer on the FB page. I spent some time the last couple of nights looking at photos and am really blown away with what many lay people were able to do in this situation. Obviously this spot had been flown over many times with no joy, but giving a bunch of Moms, Grandmas, Grandpas and anybody else that could look at a computer some photographs is what ended up bringing a conclusion to this search.

RIP Smith Family and I pray for peace and hope soon for the remaining friends and family. I know I was touched even though I had never met any of these people.

Yea, I am in the same boat. I tried looking over these photos when I got a chance, but I could never really see anything that they were seeing. I never said I saw anything though, but when those gopro photos came out yesterday, it certainly looked to me like something more substantial than what they had found to date.

It might be my mind playing tricks with me, I did think that the attention to this area was originally driven satellite imagery but I could be wrong.

907Pilot wrote:FINALLY! It is about 1/3 up from the bottom and 1/8 from the left. There is a green arrow shaped spruce that it is to the left of. If you look it looks like 4 dots that they originally thought was "44RW" I don't know what that piece ended up being, but it was the plane.

There were some that thought it was the engine, spacing between the cylinders.

Not sure how much conformation we will get, but from that picture, and a few that were shot within the couple seconds the plane flew over that area, they had deduced the color of clothing on individuals, gear doors, etc. I really struggled to make these things out, but there were a few that were certain. Hoping we get the chance to find out how accurate these pieces of the puzzle were and that this will change the way searches are conducted in the future.

I applaud the great and successful efforts of the folks that made this find happen, and my sincere condolences to the family.

As to how searches happen, I hope it becomes standard to have a satellite tracking device in a plane so searches like this become incredibly rare. We have lots of folks argue about which of the satellite tracking devices are good, better, or best. But all of them are better than an ELT which may or may not trigger appropriately.

My two cents.

Amazing! I'm so glad that the agony of not knowing where they are is over for the family and hope that this will help them down the long road of the healing process.

Kudos for those who kept with the search and x2 on the GPS tracker comment.

Just as surprised & amazed as most they found the plane. It will go a long way towards the families getting to the next few steps, though they will never be the same.

Just peeking at the photo it's hard to see any sign of a crash. Major kudos to the work and dedication involved. I wouldn't rest either & glad it all paid off.

highroad wrote:

907Pilot wrote:FINALLY! It is about 1/3 up from the bottom and 1/8 from the left. There is a green arrow shaped spruce that it is to the left of. If you look it looks like 4 dots that they originally thought was "44RW" I don't know what that piece ended up being, but it was the plane.

Hoping we get the chance to find out how accurate these pieces of the puzzle were and that this will change the way searches are conducted in the future.

It should. The way this family organized this thing is a great example of how searches should be done. It's really pretty amazing what they accomplished and the circumstances they were under while they did it.

Are those Larch trees or is there that much dead in that area?

Nosedragger wrote:

highroad wrote:

907Pilot wrote:FINALLY! It is about 1/3 up from the bottom and 1/8 from the left. There is a green arrow shaped spruce that it is to the left of. If you look it looks like 4 dots that they originally thought was "44RW" I don't know what that piece ended up being, but it was the plane.

Hoping we get the chance to find out how accurate these pieces of the puzzle were and that this will change the way searches are conducted in the future.

It should. The way this family organized this thing is a great example of how searches should be done. It's really pretty amazing what they accomplished and the circumstances they were under while they did it.

Are those Larch trees or is there that much dead in that area?

I agree, but you have to remember that this search started off with radar data and other clues that helped to significantly reduce the search area. Not many searches start out that way. Hopefully, with 406 ELTs, tracking devices, etc, this type search will become routine in missing aircraft searches. It's an example of how use of technology can supplement an on site search.

Hopefully this is something that can/will be utilized in future searches.

Thoughts and prayers to the family, and good for them for figuring this out and not giving up.

MTV

The family has closure now. That's good. Uncertainty really sucks.

Will definitely pray for them.

I know all mean well but I have to comment on the use of the word Closure... I hear it all the time along with "the road to healing".... when you lose a loved one such as a son , daughter, spouse or parent there is no such thing as closure..from that moment of loss forward there is a permanent hole in your heart that ,believe me, does not heal...things don't get better... there is no "closure"... it just gets different... the time between tears changes but after many years , the tears still come from time to time..so just cause this search for loved ones has come to an end don't for a moment think there is anything called closure...these families will never have closure....just sayin...

iceman wrote:I know all mean well but I have to comment on the use of the word Closure... I hear it all the time along with "the road to healing".... when you lose a loved one such as a son , daughter, spouse or parent there is no such thing as closure..from that moment of loss forward there is a permanent hole in your heart that ,believe me, does not heal...things don't get better... there is no "closure"... it just gets different... the time between tears changes but after many years , the tears still come from time to time..so just cause this search for loved ones has come to an end don't for a moment think there is anything called closure...these families will never have closure....just sayin...

+1

Iceman and I both have lost sons and we certainly understand the limits of the English language to express sympathy to someone drowning in grief. What people intend to say is the important thing. The discovery of the downed aircraft does end, or bring closure to any lingering uncertainty and speculation … and that is certainly what people mean by that word. OTOH, closure is the farthest thing in the world from the lifetime of grieving that lies ahead for all those who have loved and lost someone dear to them … their arduous journey is just beginning ...

I wish to thank everyone who takes the time to express sympathy to those who have lost loved ones. It really does help to hear those kind words.

My deepest sympathies to the loved ones and friends of this accident.

The lat/long are posted on the family's website in the "Antimony Ridge Search Report Final".

Found this on the news this evening:


KTVU-AP

BOISE, Idaho —

When Dellon Smith spotted the wreckage of his older brother's airplane on the side of a central Idaho mountain, he started running.

"It's hard to sprint in snowshoes, but we did," Smith said Saturday, a day after finding the snow-covered aircraft on a steep slope at about 7,500 feet, bringing an end to a six-week search. "I just wanted to run as fast as I could, and I knew it was a very sacred place to me."

After covering the 200 feet to the aircraft, he asked the rest of the 12-member search team to give him a few minutes alone at the site where a light snow was falling.

"You're just overwhelmed," he said. "You're just so happy to have found it, yet you're so sad because you found it. I just enjoyed the peace of being there, and finally getting answers for our whole family."

Bad weather Saturday morning turned back a recovery team attempting to reach the wreckage of the small aircraft that went down in early December, killing 51-year-old pilot Dale Smith, a Silicon Valley executive, and four of his family members.

There were no plans to make another attempt Sunday, but a meeting will be held Monday to consider options for reaching the remote crash site and removing the five bodies, Valley County Sheriff Patti Bolen said.

She said snowmobiles will be needed to reach the area, and various routes in the rugged terrain are being considered. She didn't rule out the use of a helicopter.

The aircraft had been carrying Dale Smith, a software executive from San Jose, Calif.; his son, Daniel Smith and his wife, Sheree Smith; and daughter Amber Smith with her fiance, Jonathan Norton, officials said.

The plane was flying from eastern Oregon, where the family had been spending the Thanksgiving holiday, to Montana, where Daniel and Sheree Smith live, when it disappeared Dec. 1 in the mountains 150 miles northeast of Boise.

Dellon Smith, 38, a cargo pilot based in Anchorage, Alaska, and one of three brothers, found the crash site at about 2 p.m. Friday. A large, tracked vehicle carried the search team into the backcountry, where they spread out. He said he tried to take in the scene to determine how the crash might have happened, adding it appeared to have been a violent impact.

"It was very sudden," he said. "Since they were in the clouds, they probably didn't know what hit them. Probably a couple seconds and it was over. There was no pain and suffering for our family members, and for that we're very grateful."

Officials suspended the official search for the aircraft in mid-December, but an intensive hunt by family, friends and a large online community scouring satellite and other photos helped locate the badly damaged aircraft Friday. At one point, hundreds of online volunteers were pitching in.

"Every single one of them made a difference," Dellon Smith said.

On Friday, he spoke with Dale Smith's wife, Janis, and told her he found the wreckage.

"It's a real sense of closure to know exactly what happened and to know that they didn't suffer at all," she told The Associated Press late Friday.

Dellon Smith said the search team dug away some of the snow to make sure it was his brother's aircraft, and he recognized the color from having flown in it.

He said the team looked for bodies but determined that a professional crew would need to clear the snow to find them.

The team focused on the site after a pilot thought he spotted reflecting metal and the online searchers began studying landscape photos of that area, Janis Smith said.

Dale Smith had reported engine trouble and radioed for coordinates to possible landing sites, including a grass-covered backcountry landing strip. Shortly after, controllers lost radio and radar contact.

Janis Smith said it appeared the plane crashed moments after the last communication. She said the plane had caught fire. Dellon Smith said he thinks his brother was trying to make it to an airport in McCall.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, Smith, an executive and co-founder of San Jose-based SerialTek, obtained his pilot's license in 2005.

"My brother was a very good pilot and a very good man and a great leader of his family," Dellon Smith said.

____

Associated Press writers Kathy McCarthy in Seattle and Robert Seavey in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Any idea the location of the plane? Near JC or Stibnite?

approximately about exactly 1 mile due east of JC

soyAnarchisto wrote:approximately about exactly 1 mile due east of JC

Thanks bud. I was curious if the location adds up to where the ear witness heard the impact from Sibnite.

Is it on the west or east side of the ridge?