Crews Resume Search For Missing Hiker Investigators Still Don’t Know What Brought Down Helicopter

The week-long search for a 73-year-old hiker resumed Saturday as investigators began trying to determine the cause of the crash of a search helicopter in which three people died.

Five Olympic National Park employees survived when the Bell 205-A1 chopper from Heli-Jet Corp. of Eugene went down shortly before 4 p.m. Friday at an elevation of about 5,200 feet.

Two of those who died were identified by Cat Hoffman, a park spokeswoman, as the pilot, Kevin Johnston of Springfield, Ore., and volunteer Rita McMahon of Aberdeen. The identity of the third, a seasonal park worker from Annapolis, Md., was being withheld.

The chopper, hired to carry personnel and supplies in the search for John Devine of Sequim, had lifted off from a ridgetop shortly before the crash, assistant park superintendent Roger Rudolph said.

There was no prior report of trouble from the helicopter, Rudolph said.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigator and representatives of Bell Helicopters, Heli-Jet and the engine manufacturer were sent Saturday to the crash site near the head of Slide Creek on the north side of Mount Baldy in the Buckhorn Wilderness Area in Olympic National Forest, about 15 miles south of Sequim near the park’s northeast corner.

Heli-Jet marketing director Charles Kimball told KIRO Television Johnston was a thoroughly professional pilot.

“Kevin was meticulous about not just his flight skills and the kinds of things that he did as a pilot, but his entire approach to his aviation career,” he said.

Grays Harbor Undersheriff Mike Whelan said McMahon’s death leaves “a big hole.”

“A lot of people in the search-and-rescue unit are suffering right now,” he said.

McMahon was a dog handler who had worked with a rottweiler named Derrick for thousands of hours, Whelan said. The dog survived the crash.

“They became an inseparable team,” Whelan said. “She was very dedicated to search and rescue. It was one of those things that was more than a hobby. It was really her life, and she loved dogs, too.”

Hoffman identified the injured as Robert Feldman, listed in serious condition with facial and leg injuries, and Cindy Stern, listed in satisfactory condition with cuts and possibly more serious leg injuries, both at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle; and Heidi Peterson, Chris Cantway and David Leeman, all with relatively minor injuries, at Olympic Memorial Hospital in Port Angeles.

Cantway and Leeman left the hospital Saturday. Peterson remained in stable condition.

About a dozen volunteers, down from as many as 90 on Thursday, resumed the search for Devine, missing without a trace since he failed to return to his camp near Mount Baldy last Saturday night.

Temperatures have been generally mild, but the search will be largely disbanded Sunday unless some sign of Devine is found, Rudolph said.

“The survivability factor, at least in terms of weather, is still acceptable. Of course, over time you reach a point of diminishing returns,” Rudolph said.

Chris Wearstler, 21, of Port Angeles, who got disoriented on his first solo overnight backpacking trip, made his way out June 15 amid a park search that began when he failed to return as expected June 6.

Devine, an experienced, well-conditioned camper, was carrying little food or gear on what he intended to be a day hike.