1 dead, 1 survivor after Friday plane crash in Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — One person died and another person was rescued after a plane crashed in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington on Friday, authorities said.
Around 3:05 p.m., the Washington State Department of Transportation Air Search and Rescue was notified of an aircraft that didn't make its intended destination in Hood River, Oregon, officials said.
The aircraft was part of a "three-plane flying formation," with the pilots of the other two who landed on time reporting the missing plane after it was about an hour and a half late.
"The crashed 1943 Stearman Kaydet aircraft was enroute to a local fly-in event this weekend in Hood River. It departed from the Enumclaw area and stopped at the South Lewis County airport before continuing toward the Columbia River Gorge just before noon," WSDOT said in a release.
The plane's flight path ended at 12:59 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, roughly 12 miles northwest of Stevenson, it was determined through cell phone and radar forensics, officials said.
"A rescue helicopter and crew from the United States Coast Guard out of Astoria and ground search and rescue teams from Skamania County worked together to locate the crash site. The aircraft and occupants were discovered at 6:20 p.m. in the high trees of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest," WSDOT said.
The passenger, 45-year-old Jed Paul Kelly of Eatonville, Washington, died at the scene, the Skamania County Sheriff's Office said. The pilot, 72-year-old Christopher M. Paulson, was airlifted to Portland for treatment of his undisclosed injuries.
"While the location of the crash site was found with commendable speed, this was a heartbreaking discovery as well," WSDOT said.