One Killed, One Injured In Plane Crash In Pinchot Forest

One person was rescued and one person was found deceased after an airplane crashed in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on Friday evening.  The Washington State Department of Transportation Air Search and Rescue says it was notified at 3:05 Friday afternoon that an aircraft did not arrive at the Hood River Fly-In after breaking away from a three-plane flying formation.  The pilots of the other two aircraft in the flying formation reported the missing plane overdue about one and a half hours after landing.  WSDOT says the crashed 1943 Stearman Kaydet aircraft departed from the Enumclaw area and stopped at the South Lewis County airport before continuing toward the Columbia River Gorge just before noon.  A local Hood River air crew tried to locate the missing plane or detect a distress radio beacon, and cell phone and radar forensics determined that the plane’s flight path ended about 12 miles northwest of Stevenson at 12:59 p.m. Friday afternoon.  A rescue helicopter and crew from the United States Coast Guard out of Astoria and ground search and rescue teams from Skamania County discovered the aircraft and occupants a few hours later in the high trees of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says the pilot, 72-year-old Christopher Paulson of Eatonville, Washington, was flown to Portland by Coast Guard helicopter for medical treatment while his passenger, 45-year-old Jed Paul Kelly of Eatonville, succumbed to his injuries.

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