Bodies found in wreckage of plane crash that teen survived
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.
The wreckage was extensively burned, and was in fact still smoldering and flaring up when searchers arrived, said Tom Molitor, a deputy with the Skagit County Sheriff's Office, who confirmed the discovery in a statement.
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 Thursday to investigate.
Veatch was released from the hospital Tuesday, and she provided searchers with the clues they needed to find the wreck.
Molitor said firefighters were called to put out a small brushfire caused by the crash.
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, a Washington state Transportation Department spokeswoman, also said there was no evidence the two flights were related.
Veatch arrived home in Bellingham shortly before midnight. 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 Veatch 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 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 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.
Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers 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.
"When they came out of the clouds, she said it was obvious they were too low," Rogers said. "They crashed right into the trees and hit the ground. She tried to do what she could to help her grandparents, but she couldn't because of the fire."