RV-8 Down in Oregon?

[mcattell]

Over an hour ago I had a Coast Guard helicopter circle my house and then some area to the West of my house. About a half hour later I heard the emergency vehicles. I turned on my handheld and heard a faint ELT signal. Unfortuanately a drive 2 miles West found a full strengh ELT signal and the Coast Guard circling the woods with a group of emergency vehicles. A call to the local Scappoose airport indicated a report of a missing RV-8 that was registered in Washington. Based on the wooded location the helicopter was circling it doesn't look good but we can hope for the best. There may have been a logging road up there. The news helicopter just flew over so I'm sure we'll know more later. This area is about 10 miles North of the Scapppoose airport.

[Phil]

I found this RV-6 that was coming from Washington to Scapppoose Airport.

Was supposed to arrive 4 hours ago.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N61FS

I didn't see any RV-8's that had Flight Plans.

[mcattell]

The airport gave me the N-number of the missing plane which belongs to a fairly new RV-8 but I don't think it's approriate to broadcast it at this point.

[mcattell]

Here's the first news report I found.

ST. HELENS, Ore. -- A small plane suddenly disappeared from radar Monday and crashed near St. Helens.

Columbia County deputies launched a search mission for the plane when the homemade single-engine plane crashed while preparing to land at Scappoose Airport at 10 a.m.

At about 1:05 p.m., a Coast Guard helicopter helping in the search found the plane near Pittsburgh Road. One survivor was found and a LifeFlight helicopter rushed him to the hospital.

Deputies have not confirmed if he was the only person on board. They're searching the area to rule out the possibility of a second person aboard the two-seat plane at the time of the wreck.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.

[mcattell]

According to the current news reports the RV-8 was based out of Bainbridge Island, Washington. Let's hope the pilot pulls through as the airplane was probably down for at least a couple hours before they got him to the hospital.

If you're on the fence about whether to buy one of the newer ELT's that connects to your GPS, this is probably a good example of why you should. This accident was fairly close to a town, near some homes, but yet in a remote forested area. It clearly took the Coast Guard some time to pinpoint the location. I would think that the search effort would be much faster if the exact coordinates where know. The guys at the airport, less than 10 miles away, could not receive the ELT signal.

[Phil]

Originally Posted by Phil

I found this RV-6 that was coming from Washington to Scapppoose Airport.

Was supposed to arrive 4 hours ago.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N61FS

I didn't see any RV-8's that had Flight Plans.

If you check the plane in this flight aware link, you'll see it's filed as an RV-6, but it's really an RV-8. And it's also based in Bainbridge Island, Wa...

May not be the same plane, but I'd bet it's at least the same flight.

[mcattell]

You had the right tail number but the FAA database shows an RV-8. Perhaps flight service wrote down the wrong model. Still no word on the local news on the pilot's condition. Just that he was taken to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland by Life Flight. From the arial views of the news helicopter he landed near a power line service road. Big power lines. That would have been a challenge but he appearantly did a great job to survive a landing in that area.

[Phil]

Hopefully he was the only person on board and he's not as bad off as would first indicate.

Keep us posted.

[Ron Lee]

On a recent flight I come across as a Wheeler Express instead of an RV-6A

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N...406Z/KCOS/KOJC

[Michael Seager]

Here is a link to some pictures. http://www.kptv.com/news/21208952/detail.html#