Beech down in WA

Not good from the reports,usually if you diverted to another field ,you would call someone.
 
Updates from the WA Dept of Transportation here: http://wsdotblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/search-continues-for-small-private.html

The story seems to have changed, before they said they received a cellphone signal at 11:30 PM near Omak, now they are saying the last cell phone signal received was at 4 PM. Doesn't make sense if the plane didn't take off until 4 PM from Montana as published earlier.

Edit: Actually the WA DOT is now reporting that the plane took off at 1PM and was scheduled to land at 4PM, not 4PM to 7PM as earlier reported. States the last cell phone signal was received at 3:49 PM near Omak, WA, which is still about 120nm south-east of Lynden. Says radar contact was lost at 3:20 PM near Omak.
 
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WA DOT had this to say:
UPDATE 4:41 p.m. July 13: Aerial crews are still mission focused searching for the plane’s location. We are referring calls to the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office for confirmation of the call they received and any ID they’ve been able to make. Their main number is 509-422-7200.

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UPDATE 4:05 p.m. July 13: We are aware of the reports of a call in to Okanogan law enforcement about a woman saying she’s Autumn Veatch and is in Mazama following a plane crash. We cannot confirm any other information at this time and need to let law enforcement have the time to do their work and confirm what’s being reported.
 
I would think that with her information they would have zeroed in on the plane by now and she would have said something about her grandparents. Hope this report isn't a hoax.
 
old cfi said:
I would think that with her information they would have zeroed in on the plane by now and she would have said something about her grandparents. Hope this report isn't a hoax.
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Really hard to tell where she walked out from. There are a lot of drainages that would have brought her out to highway 20.

It will depend upon where on Highway 20 she was picked up. One can assume that it was some where between Winthrop Wa. and the crest 30 miles west of Mazama Wa.

Very remote area.
 
Tom-D said:
They got this right.

"These grids contain some of the toughest mountainous terrain in the state," Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman Julie DeBardelaben said.
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Looks very remote from Google Earth. But isn't easy pass trail well to the west of Mazama? If they were searching in Omak (well to the east of Mazama) then they weren't looking in the right place at all. Even Mazama and Omak are 60 miles away from each other. And from what I can tell, easy pass is another 30 miles to the west of Mazama. So if the plane went down somewhere around easy pass, then the searches were basically 100 miles off-base.

Basically, from what I'm reading, it seems like the plane went down somewhere around Mt. Logan, and CFIT or strong downdrafts there could make sense given that it peaks at 9K feet. And there were thunderstorms in the vicinity of Mazama on Saturday.
 
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frcabot said:
Looks very remote from Google Earth. But isn't easy pass trail well to the west of Mazama? If they were searching in Omak (well to the east of Mazama) then they weren't looking in the right place at all. Even Mazama and Omak are 60 miles away from each other. And from what I can tell, easy pass is another 30 miles to the west of Mazama. So if the plane went down somewhere around easy pass, then the searches were basically 100 miles off-base.
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That's true. Easy trail is basically Rainey Pass that is the trail head, that trail runs north to Heart's pass, to the north. or it is also known as the Pacific crest trail that runs from the Canadian border to the Mexican border, to the south.

IF they are down in the heart's pass area they are in the Pasatin (sp) wilderness there are no roads, no trails other than the crest trail, there is nothing but wilderness.
 
From What I hear and read this guy was skud running in the mountains, out come predictable.
 
Tom-D said:
From What I hear and read this guy was skud running in the mountains, out come predictable.
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My guess is plane was not IFR certified or equipped (built in 1949 and it has no info whatsoever on any tracking site which seems to indicate no IFR plan has ever been filed for it) and that's exactly what happened. Major case of get-there-itis
 
frcabot said:
My guess is plane was not IFR certified or equipped (built in 1949 and it has no info whatsoever on any tracking site which seems to indicate no IFR plan has ever been filed for it) and that's exactly what happened. Major case of get-there-itis
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Bottom line here... is the best example of the need for a 406 ELT/GPS that I've seen.
 
Tom-D said:
Bottom line here... is the best example of the need for a 406 ELT/GPS that I've seen.
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Or PLB like a SPOT. Plus it provides enhanced SAR with LockMart/FSS, they'll send out SAR immediately if you stop moving.
 
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frcabot said:
Or PLB like a SPOT. Plus it provides enhanced SAR with LockMart/FSS, they'll send our SAR immediately if you stop moving.
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What ever it takes, as long as it is "G" activated.
 
Lustick said he had spoken with Veatch's father, who said his daughter told him the plane crashed and caught fire after flying into a bank of clouds. She remained at the crash site for a day before deciding to hike down, eventually finding a trail and following it to the trailhead on Highway 20.

Smart girl.
 
evapilotaz said:
Another pilot bad error taking victims with them. I hope to never be that person.

Sad!
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very easy to avoid, don't skud run, don't go into the clouds when on a VFR flight plan.

He knew the sky was clear behind him. he should have completed a course reversal and got to hell out of there.

there three airports in the Methow valley he could have used. Lost river, Smoke jumper base at Winthrop, and Twisp. lots of choices he should have made.
 
Trying to second guess why the pilot did what he did, only he knew what events made him choose the action he took. Monday morning quarterback as to why he did what he did with the information we have is a little premature at best. The 16 year old girl is due to be released tonight, we still have no idea of the fate of her grandparents.:(
 
brien23 said:
Trying to second guess why the pilot did what he did, only he knew what events made him choose the action he took. Monday morning quarterback as to why he did what he did with the information we have is a little premature at best. The 16 year old girl is due to be released tonight, we still have no idea of the fate of her grandparents.:(
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Yes we do. She said they were dead. We don't need to quarterback, the survivor is telling us what happened.
 
Flew that route several times. Not a good area to be messing around low in the clouds.
 
frcabot said:
Yes we do. She said they were dead. We don't need to quarterback, the survivor is telling us what happened.
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Presumed dead is not the same as pronounced dead. A little quick on the trigger to make that statement.
 
brien23 said:
Presumed dead is not the same as pronounced dead. A little quick on the trigger to make that statement.
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Um, did you even read the article? She said she was the only survivor. How is that presumed? In the 911 call, she says "they are dead," not "they are presumed dead." She was there and she stayed with the plane for a whole day, I think she would know better than you.
 
frcabot said:
Um, did you even read the article? She said she was the only survivor. How is that presumed? In the 911 call, she says "they are dead," not "they are presumed dead." She was there and she stayed with the plane for a whole day, I think she would know better than you.
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Yep your wright 16 year old girl says your dead your dead get the shovel out.
 
brien23 said:
Yep your wright 16 year old girl says your dead your dead get the shovel out.
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If I don't move for 24 hours after I've been in a plane crash and fire, and it's been 4 days later and I've gone without water, I'm dead, and someone a lot younger than 16 could figure that out. Also, right and you're.
 
Still, you are not officially dead until you are pronounced dead by a doctor or other official that is allowed to call death.
 
Zeldman said:
Still, you are not officially dead until you are pronounced dead by a doctor or other official that is allowed to call death.
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What does officially dead mean? If my heart stops beating (especially after several days), I'm pretty sure I'm dead.

I may not have been pronounced dead but I'd sure as hell be dead.

If I'm in rigor mortis and haven't moved in two days and am decomposing and animals are eating parts of my body, I'm pretty sure I'd be dead. It doesn't take an 18 year old or board certified neurologist to figure that out.
 
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:rolleyes2:

It means you are officially dead. Now your family or the county can bury you or however you specified in your will. Without that official declaration, sometimes called a death certificate, no one can do anything with your mortal remains or even open your will.
 
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Zeldman said:
:rolleyes2:

It means you are officially dead. Now your family or the county can bury you or however you specified in your will. Without that official declaration, sometimes called a death certificate, no one can do anything with your mortal remains or even open your will.
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Either way, they have been there in 85-90 degree heat, recovery is not going to be pleasant.

If the resident animals haven't already done the job for them.
 
I know in Alaska the first responders to a plane crash are not usually human.
 
brien23 said:
Trying to second guess why the pilot did what he did, only he knew what events made him choose the action he took. Monday morning quarterback as to why he did what he did with the information we have is a little premature at best. The 16 year old girl is due to be released tonight, we still have no idea of the fate of her grandparents.:(
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Can you think of any logical reason he did what he did except via making a stupid decision, breaking numerous regulations along the way?

The girl didn't say there was an emergency or anything that forced them into the clouds. He had numerous fields and a clear sky behind him. They were scud running, entered a cloud while VFR, and hit a mountain. There's no mystery here.

I know the general reaction of pilots is to not judge, but a spade needs to be called a spade if it could prevent another pilot from committing these same errors. It's certainly a wake up call to me. I've been tempted many times to dart through a cloud while VFR, as I'm sure we all have.
 
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