Radar shows plane circled before crash in Cascades

YAKIMA — The final radar images of a plane carrying 10 people home from a weekend skydiving trip show the plane circled and lost altitude, but recovered for several moments before falling rapidly into Washington's rugged Cascades, killing all those aboard.

A pilot and nine skydivers died in the crash Sunday evening, and investigators at the crash site have been working to determine what caused the plane to nosedive into the trees east of the Cascade crest.

The Cessna Caravan 208 made a tight 360-degree turn before losing 1,400 feet in 12 seconds, according to radar data released by the National Transportation Safety Board in a statement Friday. The airplane appeared to recover and stayed at 13,000 feet for three radar hits before descending at 6,800 feet per minute.

The last radar ping was received at 8,900 feet, investigators said.

The airplane crashed into thick timber at 4,300 feet, about 45 miles west of Yakima near the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area. A hunter in the crash area reported seeing the low-flying plane and that the engine appeared to be whining loudly, followed by silence.

No flight plan was filed for the flight. Searchers found the plane, a single-engine turboprop built in 1994, Monday evening.

The plane was registered to Kapowsin Air Sports of Shelton, Mason County. It was not required to be equipped with a flight-data recorder, which on larger, commercial planes can tell what happened in the minutes before an accident.

Initial data indicate there were adverse weather conditions in the area at the time of the crash, investigators said.

A cold front had just swept through the area near White Pass in Yakima County where the plane went down. The National Weather Service has said the temperature at White Pass was 33 degrees at 5,800 feet, it was overcast with light precipitation and probably clouded over between about 4,500 feet and 5,800 feet between 7 and 8 p.m. Sunday.

The FAA had warned in recent years that pilots should avoid flying the Cessna Caravan 208 in many icy conditions after receiving reports that pilots had difficulty maintaining altitude and control of the aircraft during such conditions.

However, investigators have declined to speculate on what caused the crash until they complete their investigation. They had hoped to begin recovering the wreckage on Friday, but overcast skies forced the helicopter operation to be suspended for the day, said Keith Holloway, an NTSB spokesman in Washington, D.C. They planned to try again today.

The wreckage is headed to a hangar in Seattle where investigators will continue their review.

The skydivers were affiliated with Skydive Snohomish, a company that operates a training school and skydiving flights at Harvey Field in Snohomish County.