One man was killed and another injured Friday when their small plane crashed in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Stevenson.
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a downed plane just after 3 p.m. Friday. Coordinates obtained from a transceiver on the plane showed it crashed east of Sunset Falls Campground, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
The plane, a 1943 Stearman Kaydet, was headed to Hood River, Ore., and flying in a three-plane formation when it broke away, according to a news release from the Washington State Department of Transportation. The pilots of the other two aircraft in the flying formation reported the missing plane overdue about 1½ hours after landing.
The downed plane was en route to a weekend fly-in event in Hood River. It left from the Enumclaw area and stopped at the South Lewis County Airport before continuing toward the Columbia River Gorge just before noon, according to the state transportation department.
A Hood River air crew tried to locate the missing plane or detect a distress radio beacon. Cellphone and radar forensics found that the plane’s flight path ended about 12 miles northwest of Stevenson at 12:59 p.m., according to the news release.
A search and rescue team from the sheriff’s office, with assistance from the transportation department’s aviation division, volunteers from the Volcano Rescue Team and medics from North Country Emergency Medical Services, began searching for the downed craft.
Upon arrival, the rescue volunteers made voice contact with a man but could not see the downed aircraft. The team made its way down a steep ravine and located the pilot, who was identified as Christopher M. Paulson, 72, of Eatonville, about 6:20 p.m. Paulson was hoisted from the ravine by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and flown to Portland for medical treatment.
A passenger, identified as Jed Paul Kelly, 45, of Eatonville, was found dead inside the wreckage.
The plane crash remains under investigation. The sheriff’s office is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board and will provide more information as it becomes available.
