Two bodies recovered from Autumn Veatch plane wreckage

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/16/bodies-recovered-two-plane-crashes-washington-state

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Related: Plane crash survivor Autumn Veatch returns home as wreckage located

Ground search crews recovered two bodies on Wednesday from the wreckage of a small plane that crashed into a north-central Washington state mountainside last weekend, forcing teenager Autumn Veatch, 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 smouldering.

The two victims have not been formally identified, but 16-year-old survivor Autumn 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 Autumn home from a Montana visit.

A National Transportation Safety Board team was expected to arrive on Thursday to investigate.

The teenager was released from a hospital on Tuesday. She provided searchers with the clues they needed to find the wreck.

Also on Wednesday, a different set of searchers located the wreckage of a small plane from Minnesota that crashed in northern Washington state with two aboard. Two bodies were recovered from that wreckage, a sheriff said.

That plane’s tail registration number matches that of an aircraft reported missing from Minnesota, Sheriff Bill Elfo of Whatcom County said. A man and woman from Kabetogama, Minnesota, were reportedly aboard the plane, which is believed to have crashed on Saturday on its way to Washington’s San Juan Islands. It was reported missing on Tuesday after relatives could not reach the people on board.

There was no evidence the two flights were related, said Barbara LaBoe, a Washington state transportation department spokeswoman.

Autumn arrived home in Bellingham late on Tuesday night. Family friends had gathered in anticipation of a happy homecoming, bringing balloons and flowers to the apartment of her father, David Veatch.

“We just want to show her and her family that we care and we love her,” said one friend, Amber Shockey. She added that Autumn had said “she was happy to be coming home”.

“It’s astonishing that she could do this,” Shockey added later.

Bruised by the impact, singed by the fire, fearing an explosion and knowing she could not help her step-grandparents, Autumn 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 on Monday afternoon, bringing her – about two full days after the crash – to the safety of a general store in tiny Mazama, near the east entrance of North Cascades national park.

Sheriff Frank Rogers of Okanogan County said the Beechcraft A-35 was flying over north-central Washington on its way from Kalispell, Montana, 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 and trees ahead. Leland Bowman tried to pull up – to no avail.

They struck the trees and the plane plummeted to the ground and caught fire.