David Veatch, the father of Autumn Veatch, 16, along with family friend Chelsey Clark, right, speak to the media outside the Three Rivers Hospital
A 16-year-old girl survived a small-plane crash in the rugged mountains of Washington state and hiked through thick forest to reach safety in what one official called “a miracle.” But she reported that her two step-grandparents died in the accident, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said yesterday.
Searchers planned to resume looking for the wreckage, and any sign of Leland and Sharon Bowman, three days after the aircraft went down.
“She said they were flying in the clouds, and in an instant, it opened up and there was the mountain, and they crashed into the trees,” Rogers said.
The sheriff said pilot Leland Bowman was flying too low. “He tried to pull up, but it was too late,” Rogers said. Veatch remained at the crash site for a day before deciding to hike down, eventually finding a trail and following it to the trailhead on a highway.
A motorist picked her up Monday and drove her to a store, where employees called for help. Veatch has no life-threatening injuries but was dehydrated and suffering from a treatable muscle tissue breakdown caused by vigorous exercise without food or water, said Scott Graham, CEO of Three Rivers Hospital.
“It’s a miracle, no question about it,” Lt. Col. Jeffrey Lustick of the Civil Air Patrol told reporters, saying he has spent 30 years in search and rescue.
Her father, David Veatch, told reporters outside the hospital that his daughter was exhausted but doing remarkably well. She was able to joke with him about the survival shows they watched together on television, he said.
“She’s just an amazing kid,” David Veatch said. Martha Bellisle, Gene Johnson, AP
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