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#275794 - 07/14/15 07:32 PM 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash
Mark_R Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 863
Loc: Southern California

Quote:
Autumn Veatch, 16, couldn't tell the 911 operator where in the Washington state wilderness the small plane went down. Somehow, she survived; her grandparents apparently didn't.

Veatch, covered in bruises and burns, hiked out of the rugged mountains two days after Saturday's crash, police said.


http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/13/us/washington-plane-crash-girl/index.html

She stayed near a river the first night and hiked out the second day. For reasons I don't know and can't guess, the ELT apparently did not work.
_________________________
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane

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#275796 - 07/14/15 08:16 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
AFAIK small general aviation aircraft such as the Beech A-35 aren't required to carry an ELT. Good that she kept her head and self-rescued.

SAR will find the plane by using her description and backtracking.

Edit: Yeah, ELT's are required. See AOPA link below.


Edited by Russ (07/15/15 03:42 AM)
Edit Reason: add'l info

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#275798 - 07/14/15 11:13 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Russ]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Here's another article. Navy helicopters and CAP are conducting the search. No mention of ground efforts.
‘A Miracle': Teen Girl Hikes 2 Days Through Forest To Reach Safety After Surviving Plane Crash
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Better is the Enemy of Good Enough.
Okay, what’s your point??

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#275799 - 07/15/15 02:16 AM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
unimogbert Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 08/10/06
Posts: 882
Loc: Colorado
ELT is required equipment.

But they can fail for many reasons - most having to do with crash geometry and installation (tearing off the antenna cable for instance)

2 days foot travel from the crash site will greatly narrow the search area.

Sure is a tough way to end a trip.

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#275800 - 07/15/15 03:40 AM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: unimogbert]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Regulatory Brief -- Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) I did not realize ELT's were required on small GA aircraft.
Quote:
"...When ELTs were mandated in 1973, most GA aircraft were equipped with an ELT that transmits on the 121.5 MHz frequency, the designated international distress frequency. The original ELTs were manufactured to the specifications of an FAA technical standard order (TSO-C91) and have an activation rate of less than 25 percent in actual crashes and a 97 percent false-alarm rate. ..."
(Bold added by me)

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#275801 - 07/15/15 12:09 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
Dagny Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 11/25/08
Posts: 1918
Loc: Washington, DC

Lucky, gutsy young lady.



.

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#275802 - 07/15/15 03:32 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
AKSAR Offline
Veteran

Registered: 08/31/11
Posts: 1233
Loc: Alaska
Teen leaves hospital, wreckage found

Sounds like they spotted the plane late yesterday, but couldn't reach it before dark. Should be some updates later this morning.


Edited by AKSAR (07/15/15 03:33 PM)
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"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."
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#275803 - 07/15/15 04:27 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3840
Loc: USA
Seriously hard core. This underscores how much of survival is based on mental toughness.

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#275806 - 07/15/15 05:16 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
AKSAR Offline
Veteran

Registered: 08/31/11
Posts: 1233
Loc: Alaska
A bit more info: Crews will try to reach plane crash site Wednesday
Quote:
A crew of mountain-rescue volunteers and a Skagit County Sheriff’s deputy are among those hiking Wednesday morning through rough terrain to reach the site of what could be the plane crash that 16-year-old Autumn Veatch survived.

Late Tuesday, state officials said search crews spotted wreckage of a plane near where the teenager emerged from the woods, but they were unable to reach the site.
------------------snip--------
John Himmel of the Washington State Department of Transportation said the agency could not verify that the wreckage was from the Beech A35 that was piloted by Autumn Veatch’s step-grandparents. Veatch said she was the only survivor.

“We don’t know that we’ve found the right wreckage; we know we’ve found wreckage,” he said. Himmel said the wreckage is less than half a mile from the highway as the crow flies.
_________________________
"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."
-Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz

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#275807 - 07/15/15 07:15 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3238
Loc: Alberta, Canada
I'm glad she made it out okay. Going cross-country in the PNW bush seems to me like an easy way to disappear off the face of the earth. Luckily she hit a trail and followed it; otherwise the ending could have been very much different.

I agree about the comment re mental toughness. Not everyone would have the grit to do what she did. On the other hand, it takes a lot of mental toughness to stay put too, when your every instinct is to go find help. As I understand it, staying put usually has the best outcomes.

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#275810 - 07/16/15 12:37 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: AKSAR]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Bodies have been recovered from both aircraft crash sites. A second aircraft from MN also crashed Saturday.

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#275813 - 07/17/15 02:53 AM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
CANOEDOGS Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 1853
Loc: MINNESOTA
notice that she did not try and make a shelter or rub two sticks together to get a fire going but just went for it.
i would not want to stay by or near the wreckage but get away from a scene out of hell.

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#275822 - 07/18/15 02:04 AM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: CANOEDOGS]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3238
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Originally Posted By: CANOEDOGS
i would not want to stay by or near the wreckage but get away from a scene out of hell.


Yeah, that's an understandable reaction. The young lady went through a horrible, traumatic event -- her grandparents burned in that wreck. How many of us would be thinking clearly after that?

Standing back from it, though, I still think that going blind into PNW bush, which can be incredibly dense and disorienting in a lot of places, is a surefire recipe for increasing the casualty count. Note that I don't have any specific information on this particular area -- maybe it's not as dense or overgrown, which would change the equation.

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#275827 - 07/18/15 07:08 AM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: dougwalkabout]
EMPnotImplyNuclear Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 09/10/08
Posts: 382
Originally Posted By: dougwalkabout
How many of us would be thinking clearly after that?

Either 80% or 20% smile

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#275844 - 07/19/15 01:06 AM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: EMPnotImplyNuclear]
Roarmeister Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 09/12/01
Posts: 960
Loc: Saskatchewan, Canada
Apparently, she credits watching Survivorman with her dad when she was a child. "Going downhill, finding water, following a creek, slept curled up in ball, found a trail then the highway." Word got back to Les about this and he skyped a call to her in the hospital and told her he looked up to her. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/16-year-plane-crash-survivor-thought-nightmare-32513971

Les Stroud if you didn't know is a Toronto hospital himself after a vehicle accident in Mongolia left him with broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

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#275845 - 07/19/15 01:20 AM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
AKSAR Offline
Veteran

Registered: 08/31/11
Posts: 1233
Loc: Alaska
Some more info on her survival in this article in the Bellingham paper.
_________________________
"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."
-Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz

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#275870 - 07/20/15 07:36 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
Even a little bit of knowledge helps...do this; not that

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#276488 - 09/01/15 06:54 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
and here, a tiny survival/edc kit might have also helped.

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#276491 - 09/01/15 09:45 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Roarmeister]
JeffMc Offline
Member

Registered: 05/10/15
Posts: 129
Loc: Northwest Florida
Originally Posted By: Roarmeister
Apparently, she credits watching Survivorman ...


Les is da' man! "What would Les Stroud do?" is an excellent survival question to ask yourself when you suspect you've gotten yourself into trouble.

Alternately, "is this something Bear Grylls would do?" is an excellent survival question to ask yourself if you need to rethink doing something that's too risky.
[No disrespect - Bear is a highly knowledgeable, credible and experienced outdoor expert, but, unlike Les, his shows are entirely for entertainment, not practical survival instruction]

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#277899 - 12/08/15 09:29 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
A case where a small ' here take this for the duration of the trip ' kit or a 'here's where the gear is" 1 minute speech approach might have been helpful.

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#280242 - 04/08/16 06:14 PM Re: 16 year old girl found alive after WA plane crash [Re: Mark_R]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
...and a keychain with a whistle, compass and spark striker...

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