Bodies, plane wreckage found at crash site; teen survivor released from hospital
SEATTLE – Ground search crews recovered two bodies Wednesday from the wreckage of a small airplane that crashed into a Washington state mountainside over the weekend, forcing a teenager who survived the impact to hike her way off a rugged slope to safety.
Deputies and volunteers who reached the wreckage found it burned out and smoldering.
The two victims haven’t been formally identified, but 16-year-old survivor Autumn Veatch has said her step-grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman of Marion, Montana, were killed in the crash.
The plane, piloted by Leland Bowman, was bringing Veatch home from a Montana visit.
A National Transportation Safety Board team was expected to arrive today to investigate.
Veatch, 16, was released from the hospital Tuesday, and she provided searchers with the clues they needed to find the wreck.
A different set of searchers on Wednesday located what was believed to be the wreckage of an airplane that took off from Minnesota with two people on board who were scheduled to arrive at Orcas Island on Saturday. Officials said they haven’t been able to confirm the debris is from the missing flight, or find any signs of survivors. Barbara LaBoe, state Transportation Department spokeswoman, said there was no evidence the two flights were related.
Bruised by the impact, singed by the fire, fearing an explosion and knowing she couldn’t help her step-grandparents, Autumn Veatch headed down the steep slope, following a creek to a river.
She spent a night on a sand bar and sipped small amounts of water, worrying she might get sick if she drank more.
She followed the river to a trail, and the trail to a highway. Two men driving by stopped and picked her up Monday, bringing her – about two full days after the crash – to the safety of a general store near the east entrance of North Cascades National Park.
Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said the Beechcraft A-35 was flying on its way from Kalispell to Lynden, Washington, when it entered a cloud bank. Then the clouds suddenly parted, and from her seat behind the cockpit, Veatch could see the mountain ahead. Leland Bowman tried to pull up – to no avail.
They struck the trees and the plane plummeted to the ground and caught fire.
“When they came out of the clouds, she said it was obvious they were too low,” Rogers said. “She tried to do what she could to help her grandparents, but she couldn’t because of the fire.”