Sorry, that's all I've got. :-)
Posted on 10/08/2007 5:15:42 PM PDT by LibWhacker
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A search began Monday in the rugged central Washington Cascades for a missing plane with up to 10 people from a skydiving company on board.
The Cessna 208 Grand Caravan left Star, Idaho, about 7 p.m. Sunday en route to Shelton, Wash., but did not arrive as scheduled, said Mike Fergus of the Federal Aviation Administration.
A hunter in the White Pass area told police he saw a plane flying low and heard a crash about 8 p.m. Sunday.
The plane is registered to Kapowsin Air Sports of Shelton. Ten people from the skydiving company Skydive Snohomish were scheduled to be on the plane, but it was unknown how many were actually on board, said Geoff Farrington, Kapowsin's co-owner.
The family owned company, more than 60 years old, has never lost a plane, he said. The plane also had never experienced mechanical problems.
"We've been around a long time," an emotional Farrington said, describing the people on board as acquaintances. "(Skydiving) is a small community."
The names of those on board were not released, but Farrington said their families had been notified.
Officials at Skydive Snohomish did not return a telephone message seeking comment.
Nisha Marvel of the Washington Department of Transportation said the search area had been narrowed to southwest of Rimrock Lake, about 30 miles west of Yakima, due to the hunter's report and radar information. The Transportation Department was coordinating the air search, while Yakima County Search and Rescue was coordinating a ground search.
The search was centered in area along the north fork of the Tieton River.
Officials said the plane's emergency locator was not activated.
Temperatures were between 35-40 degrees at 8 p.m., with some light precipitation and heavy clouds, said meteorologist Steve Bodnar of the National Weather Service in Spokane. Wind gauges to the east at Sedge Ridge showed winds of between 11-20 mph, with gusts to 46 mph.
The Cessna 208 Grand Caravan has a good reputation, Fergus said.
"It's got a good track record. It's been around a long time," he said.
Hope this hasn’t already been posted. Couldn’t find it.
Hope they are fine, but if an enemy of the Clinton’s, all I can think about is Ron Brown.
I saw way too many aircraft take off that were overloaded, out of W&B, etc.
I don't know it for a fact, but I suspect being a passenger in a jump plane is almost as dangerous as skydiving.
I don’t know it for a fact, but I suspect being a passenger in a jump plane is almost as dangerous as skydiving.
Have to agree with you there.
Skydiving is on my list to do’s. Good for you for doing it.
I do hope they are okay.
> ... I suspect being a passenger in a jump
> plane is almost as dangerous as skydiving.
It would be interesting to compare the stats on that.
In many cases, though, unless the a/c problem occurs
right at takeoff, the jumpers will bail. 200 feet is
all you need.
I wouldn’t be too surprised if they walk out of the forest,
possibly including the pilot if he had a chute.
However, the article is typically modern media
unclear about whether the riders were pax or jumpers.
When I did it 2 years ago the pilot wore a parachute. The tiny little thing held four of us in the back (two amateurs and two experienced people to tandem). Had to drive down a dirt road to get to the runway. Looking back, jumping with them was downright crazy!
I assume they rip the seats out of those planes and mark the cg limits with paint or some type of marker. I hope they are not just guesstimating. I agree, it seems that most skydiving plane crashes are due to a cg too far aft or forward, or overload.
Blue Skies, black death.
USPA 21725
NZ Pops #88
That's not the problem.
The people flying these aircraft are either the owners, despite for revenue. Or, low time hired help pilots who do what they have to do to build hours and keep a job.
I used to jump in Maine. I was more experienced, hence I wanted a lift to a higher altitude than the students.
That meant I was the last out. The rear bulkhead of the C185 had been removed to allow another meatbomb to cramb into the rear of the aircraft.
I never did jump at that DZ.
The weather out here has been a bit marginal. DO NOT SCUD RUN in the N. CASCADES!
W&B?
pax?
cg?
Divers press the limit. It’s what they do.
I used to jump as Casa Grande in the mid 70’s....I was one of the original death divers; captain of the Frapp Factory.
SCS 1299.
Night jumps with a drunk pilot who did a barrel roll with three unbelted skydivers inside; then two spins. He neg-graved the engine and emptied the oil all over the plane. He destroyed the motor.
Dust storm jump with winds over 50mph. That was one hell of a landing!
The rest I won’t admit to.
A Cessna 208 is a heavy single engine turbo prop. It is definately not an airplane a fly-by-night outfit would operate.
This was cross country flight in weather. The Skydiving part is probably irrelevent safety of this particular flight.
I’ve flown out of Harvey Field and know the plane and those who may have flown ... if it was an event in Idaho then I bet Tyson Harvey, the owner/manager of SKYDIVE Snohomish was on board as well as several other’s I know .. they were coming back late in MVFR or worse ... you have to fly the Cascades not lower than 10,000 feet, higher in some places .... most likely they were scud running .... didn’t want to file an IFR flight plan .... from what I’ve seen, if it’s the same plane, the pilot was a real hot-dog ... if he puts out people at 12,000 he’d be landing when the last jumper landed as well ... he’d nose-dive that thing almost straight down ......
Missing plane stories need pix!
Yep. I can’t believe I used to jump with a board strapped to my feet. Awesome memories though. Ahhh, the good ole days....
Sorry, that's all I've got. :-)
Lost a co-worker and friend to this type of accident in So. Cal. about 25 years ago.
I think there were 13 aboard that one.
Also, noteworthy to me, as I was born in Yakima and Dad lives there now.
ouch- did they walk away?
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