Plane crash kills man, boy; girl injured

RIMROCK LAKE, Yakima County — Investigators will be combing the wreckage today of a plane crash that killed a Yakima man and his son and critically injured his daughter near Rimrock Lake on Sunday afternoon.

The plane, a 1974 Cessna-172 Skyhawk rental owned by McCormick Air Center of Yakima, went down about a half mile east of the Tieton Air Strip, near the east end of the lake, around 3:10 p.m. Sunday.

Aboard were Justin Reed, 37, and his two children Parrin, 13, and Julie, 5, according to the Yakima County Coroner's Office.

Authorities said the girl was taken initially to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in critical condition with multiple fractures and head injuries. She was later airlifted to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center.

"She's banged up pretty good," said Naches Assistant Fire Chief Alan Baird.

"She was conscious, talking to us," he said at the scene. "She's in shock."

But, "she's a strong little gal," said Baird, 51. "She was answering our questions and dealing with it real well, all things considered."

A passer-by reported the crash shortly after 3 p.m. using his vehicle's OnStar system, a safety and security system that connects drivers to emergency assistance.

William Watt, a 57-year-old fruit warehouse forklift driver, said he was heading home to Yakima after taking a Sunday drive when he saw the plane strike some trees.

"I came down (the road) past the airport, and I saw the plane over(head), and I saw it clip the trees," he said, standing near his parked car on the side of the road around 4 p.m. Sunday. "I just heard what sounded like a crash or something. I pulled over and called on my OnStar."

Watt said he didn't approach the crash site, located about 30 to 40 yards from the road. Wreckage of the blue-and-white aircraft was visible through the evergreen trees. Watt also said authorities — as well as other passers-by — arrived within minutes of his call. Yakima County Sheriff's deputies sealed off a stretch of the road, approximately two miles long, as the probe got under way.

Allen Kenitzer, regional spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said he wasn't sure of the plane's destination or point of departure.

Rimrock Lake, a popular recreation site, is south of Highway 12, about 40 miles west of Yakima and roughly 15 miles east of White Pass. The four-seat Skyhawk, the type of plane involved in Sunday's crash, is "the best-selling, most-flown airplane ever," according to Cessna's Web site. More than 43,000 have been built since 1955.

The 2,509-foot turf Tieton Air Strip, at the edge of Rimrock Lake, is generally open from June 1 to Oct. 1, according to the state Department of Transportation.

According to the department's Web site, the air strip's 2,961-foot elevation "does cause some summertime density altitude problems."

"The approach from the east is difficult," the Web site says. "There is a mountain right on the east end, the runway drops rapidly away to the west, and there are trees in the approach path."

Sunday afternoon, Baird noted there are few places around here to put a plane down safely."You see what the terrain is like," he said, adding that despite the landscape, "We have a survivor."