By PHUONG LE and MARTHA BELLISLE
Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) - Authorities say a driver picked up a teenage girl who survived a small plane crash in a mountainous area in Washington state.
Crews had been searching for the plane with three aboard after it failed to reach its destination. Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said Monday afternoon the girl managed to walk to a trailhead, where she was picked up by a motorist and brought to a store in Mazama, Washington.
Rogers said the girl had been "walking for a couple of days." He said she was being taken to a local hospital and she seemed to be in stable condition. Rogers wouldn't comment on the status of the other two people aboard the plane.
Officials had identified those aboard as Leland and Sharon Bowman of Marion, Montana, and their 16-year-old step-granddaughter, Autumn Veatch of Bellingham, Washington.
The Beech A-35 left Kalispell, Montana, about 1 p.m. PDT Saturday, headed for Lynden, Washington. Family members notified authorities when the plane did not arrive.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Five aircraft were flying over a rugged, mountainous area of Washington state Monday, searching for a small, private plane carrying three family members that failed to reach their destination over the weekend.
The red and white Beech A-35 left Kalispell, Montana, at about 1 p.m. PDT Saturday, headed for Lynden, Washington, according the state Department of Transportation. Family members notified authorities when the plane did not arrive.
Officials identified those aboard as Leland and Sharon Bowman of Marion, Montana, and their 16-year-old step-granddaughter, Autumn Veatch, of Bellingham, Washington. Leland Bowman was issued a private pilot license in 2011, and the plane, manufactured in 1949, was registered to him, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
The plane crossed the Idaho-Washington border at about 2:20 p.m. PDT Saturday, but it dropped off the radar near Omak, Washington, about an hour later, transportation officials said.
The last phone signal from one of the plane's occupants was detected around 3:50 p.m.
The search Monday focused on an area south of Mount Baker and northeast of Seattle.
The Civil Air Patrol's Cell Phone Forensics and Radar Analysis teams were analyzing clues left by the phones that were on board.
"In this mission, cellphone data and radar information complement each other, both providing important clues that have shaped the recommended search areas," Maj. Justin Ogden said in a statement. "Clues left by the cellphones used on the plane allow cellphone forensics to estimate the position of the aircraft during flight times. That information is used to generate an estimated path the plane was flying."
Five aircraft equipped with special radios for detecting the missing plane's emergency locator transmitter searched the mountains while ground crews focused on areas between Mazama, Washington, and the Rainy Pass area, officials said.
"These grids contain some of the toughest mountainous terrain in the state," said Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman Julie DeBardelaben.
Rain early Monday slowed efforts, but clearing skies in the afternoon was expected to help with the search.
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