Pilot killed in small plane crash in Kittitas County

KITTITAS COUNTY, Wash. - A pilot is dead after crashing their small plane in the area of Whiskey Dick Mountain in Kittitas County on Tuesday.

A search is underway after a small plane went missing near the Gorge Amphitheater on Tuesday. According to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO), a Cessna Skyhawk departed Yakima Tuesday afternoon, bound for Chelan. Both the GCSO and Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office were notified around 11 p.m. that the plane was missing, and a search began shortly afterward. At approximately 3:11 a.m., the GCSO reported that marine units and drones had been deployed to search the area where the plane's last known data was recorded, near the Gorge Amphitheater along the Columbia River. The pilot was the only person aboard the aircraft. At 3:45 a.m., the GCSO suspended the search after boats and drones failed to locate the plane. The search is set to resume at daylight. Further details are expected to be provided by the GCSO’s public information officer. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

A Cessna Skyhawk Plane (Photo by Historic England Archive/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Timeline:

According to the Grant County Sheriff's Office (GCSO), a Cessna Skyhawk departed Yakima Tuesday afternoon, bound for Chelan. The plane was reported missing at around 11 p.m., and both the GCSO and the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) launched a search shortly afterward.

Search efforts continued through the night, with Kittitas County deputies and Search and Rescue volunteers focusing on the area around Whiskey Dick Mountain, while the GCSO searched along the Columbia River near the Gorge Amphitheater. Marine units and drones were also deployed to assist in the search, which was suspended around 3:45 a.m. and resumed at daylight.

At around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, a crash site was located near Whiskey Dick Mountain with the help of a Life Flight helicopter. The pilot, who was the only person aboard the plane, was found dead.

Her family has been notified.

What's next:

The KCSO is coordinating with the Kittitas County Coroner's Office to recover the pilot's body. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the cause of the crash.

What they're saying:

"Sheriff Myers and the Kittitas County community offer condolences to the family of the pilot and appreciation for the efforts of everyone who assisted in this search," the KCSO wrote in a Wednesday press release.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Source: Information for this story came from the Grant County Sheriff's Office, the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).