Two men are dead after being reported missing with their plane on Saturday, Oct. 10. The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said the plane stopped communicating in Okanogan County after departing from Penticton, British Columbia.
The plane, a 1976 Piper Cub, was carrying a pilot and one passenger who have been identified as 61-year-old pilot Nicholas Grachanin and passenger James Merk. The two were headed to Grangeville, Idaho.
According to Washington State Department of Transportation Air Search and Rescue, Grachanin lost communication with Seattle Center air traffic control late Saturday night. His daughter then reported the plane missing to the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office.
WSDOT Air Search and Rescue started searching Saturday evening, focusing initially on the aircraft’s last known radar locations between Oroville and Okanogan then expanded the search. They also said no distress signals were received from the plane over Saturday night.
They found the plane and both men dead inside the aircraft around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, in Aeneas Valley near Tonasket.
The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office worked alongside WSDOT Air Search and Rescue, Civil Air Patrol, Okanogan County Emergency Management, and other responding agencies to coordinate search efforts.
The sheriff’s office told those living in the Aeneas Valley, Wauconda, and surrounding communities to expect heavy air traffic as multiple aircraft conducted search operations throughout the area. That has now stopped.
“On behalf of the search and rescue team, WSDOT extends our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives,” said WSDOT Air Search and Rescue Coordinator and Incident Commander, Tom Peterson. He added his thanks for the support from all the agencies and the people who helped in the search.
The NTSB said its investigations involve three primary areas: the pilot, the aircraft and the operating environment. Investigators will begin to go through flight data, recordings of any air traffic control communications, maintenance records, weather forecasts, witness statements and any available surveillance video.
They also will look at the pilot's license, ratings and recency of flight experience as well as a full 72-hour background on the pilot. That is to determine if there were any issues that could have affected the pilot’s ability to safely operate the flight.
Once the investigator has processed the scene and examined the plane, the aircraft will then be able to be recovered and moved to a secure facility for further investigation.
The NTSB says they will not speculate about the cause while the on-scene investigation process is underway. They will release their preliminary report within 30 days.
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