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Teenage Girl survives Bonanza Crash in North Cascades

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EchoDelta

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You may have seen the national news coverage (e.g. http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/13/us/washington-plane-crash-girl/index.html) regarding a 16 year old girl that survived the crash of an A-35 Bonanza in the North Cascade mountains of Washington State. She spent a day waiting at the crash site and another hiking through wilderness to a trail leading her to a highway, where a motorist picked her up and took her to the nearest town. Her step-grandparents, also aboard the plane apparently did not survive, although as of this writing search crews have yet to find the wreckage.

According to more detailed coverage in the local press, the girl told authorities that the plane emerged from clouds and struck the side of a mountain. The weather in the area on Saturday was partly cloudy with some mountain obscuration. However, tops would likely not have been terribly high and there was no significant convective activity.

Pictures in the local media show the plane as N8749A. FAA databases indicate this is a 1949 Beech A-35 Bonanza. From the pictures, it was modified with tip tanks. FlightAware brings up no records of N8749A, so the flight, from Kalispell, MT to Lynden (near Bellingham) WA, was apparently not on an IFR plan, and FAA records indicate that the step-grandfather, who was the pilot, does not have an instrument rating.

Peaks in this particular area of the North Cascades aren't terribly high, ranging from about 7000 to 9,000 feet, but the terrain is extremely rugged (and breathtakingly beautiful, but that's beside the point here) with very steep slopes and narrow, twisting river valleys. My guess is that the pilot was attempting to sneak under the cloud bases following the North Cascades Highway. If so, it was a terrible mistake. It would be very easy to follow the road around a blind bend and come face-to-face with a wall of cloud without enough room to turn around. Sadly, a route 50-60 miles to the south would have offered much better terrain for crossing the Cascades VFR in the marginal conditions. Maybe the pilot, who was likely familiar with the much gentler mountains around his home in western Montana, was unaware of the terrain, or maybe he didn't want to spend the time or fuel for the detour.

At least in this case the tragedy of the (probably) needless accident is tempered by the miracle of the girl's survival with only minor injuries.
 

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