Authorities in Washington state say 16-year-old was picked up by motorist two days after light aircraft carrying three people went down in mountains

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A US teenager survived a plane crash in the craggy, thickly forested mountains of north-central Washington state, then emerged from the wilderness after hiking “for a couple of days” and was picked up by a motorist who drove her to safety, authorities have said.

But Autumn Veatch reported that her two step-grandparents, who were also on board, died in the accident, Sheriff Frank Rogers of Okanogan County said.

Family members alerted authorities when the Beech A-35 light plane failed to complete its flight from Kalispell, Montana, to Lynden, Washington, on Saturday afternoon. Rescuers narrowed down a search area based on cellphone data and typical flight patterns. But there was no sign of the aircraft or its occupants until Autumn, 16, followed a trail to Highway 20, near the east entrance to North Cascades national park.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Autumn Veatch. Photograph: Autumn Veatch/Facebook

Autumn told authorities that the plane crashed and caught fire after flying into a bank of clouds. She stayed at the crash site for a day and her father told reporters that Autumn tried to pull her step-grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman, from the plane with no success.

A motorist picked her up on Monday afternoon and drove her 30 miles east to a general store in Mazama, where employees called 911. The Aero Methow Rescue Service sent a paramedic team to check her out before she was taken to a hospital in Brewster for treatment of what appeared to be minor injuries, said Cindy Button, director of services at the organisation.



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“Our initial information is she sustained no life-threatening injuries and is somewhat dehydrated due to being out in the elements,” said Scott Graham, chief executive officer at Three Rivers hospital. The girl was being evaluated on Monday evening, he said.

Serena Lockwood, the manager at the Mazama Store, said the girl and a motorist came in on Monday afternoon. “She was obviously pretty traumatized,” Lockwood said. Sheriff Rogers said she had been “walking for a couple of days”.

Rescuers celebrated Autumn’s survival but immediately returned their focus to finding the wreckage, aided by Autumn’s description of the crash site, said Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Lustick of the civil air patrol.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest David Veatch, the father of Autumn Veatch, 16, along with family friend Chelsey Clark, right, speaks to the media outside the Three Rivers hospital in Brewster, Washington, on Monday. Photograph: Lindsey Wasson/AP

“We’re so happy about this,” Lustick said. “I’ve spent 30 years in the civil air patrol and in search and rescue. Moments of joy like this can be hard to find.”

Lustick said he had spoken with Autumn’s father, who said his daughter had remained at the crash site for a day before deciding to hike down, eventually finding a trail and following it to the trailhead on Highway 20.

He said Autumn was in good spirits following the accident and joking with him about the survival shows they watched together.

“She’s an amazing kid,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “There’s more to her than she knows.”

Five aircraft equipped with special radios for detecting the missing plane’s emergency locator beacon had been searching the mountains on Monday along with ground crews, officials said.

The plane crossed the Idaho-Washington border about 2.20pm on 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 3.50pm.

The civil air patrol’s cellphone forensics and radar analysis teams were analysing clues left by the phones that were on board.

“These grids contain some of the toughest mountainous terrain in the state,” a civil air patrol spokeswoman, Julie DeBardelaben, said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.