Cascade Mountain Plane Crash Claims 10 Lives

By Karyn Chenoweth Oct 9, 2007, 12:51 GMT

CNN is reporting all 10 people who were aboard the sky-diving plane that crashed in the Cascade Mountains have been confirmed dead.

Searchers who found the wreckage Monday night were able to verify by serial number that it was the plane carrying nine skydivers and a pilot that went missing a day earlier, said Tina Wilson, a Yakima Valley Emergency Management spokeswoman.

The names of those aboard were not released. Jim Hall, director of Yakima Valley Emergency Management, said none appeared to have survived, and that their families were notified.

Seven people on board "have been found deceased," Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin said in an earlier statement. Recovery efforts were suspended for the night but were to resume Tuesday.

The Cessna 208 Grand Caravan left Star, Idaho, near Boise, Sunday evening en route to Shelton, Washington, northwest of Olympia. The plane was returning from a skydiving meet.

Based on radar transmissions and a hunter's report of seeing a plane flying low Sunday evening and then hearing a crash, the search was focused south of Mount Rainier, in a steep, densely forested area near White Pass, about 45 miles west of Yakima.

The darkness and the steep, snow covered terrain prevented searchers from making much progress, said CBS News Meg Oliver.

The smell of fuel lead rescuers to find the wreckage in the rugged mountains, Wilson said. The tail section was separated from the rest of the plane and was not immediately located, she said.

CBS reported that The National Transportation Safety Board was to begin an investigation Tuesday.

Elaine Harvey, co-owner of the skydiving company Skydive Snohomish, told The Seattle Times that nine of the 10 aboard were either employees of her business or else licensed skydivers who considered Snohomish their "home drop zone."

Skydive Snohomish operates a training school and offers skydiving flights. The company had nothing to do with the flight to Idaho or the event held there, Harvey said.