A weeks-long search by multiple agencies for a plane that went missing near Queets soon after takeoff on March 6 came to an end on April 10 with confirmation that the plane and the pilot’s body had been located.
Pilot Rod Collen was located deceased inside the cockpit of the aircraft, likely killed on impact, according to a Washington State Department of Transportation news release.
Collen and the aircraft, a 2006 Cessna, went missing about 45 minutes after takeoff from the Tacoma area on the afternoon of his disappearance, according to the news release. Collen, the sole occupant of the aircraft, was last seen on radar in a steep dive toward ground level near Queets, The Daily World previously reported.
The active search was suspended on March 20 after searchers had flown more than 4,000 air miles searching for a sign of the crash in the wilderness, The Daily World previously reported, but search groups returned to the area on April 7 after assistance from a Canadian agency allowed them to refine the locus. Improved search conditions as warm weather melted the snow that hampered the search for the white aircraft also helped, according to the news release.
On April 10, a team from WSDOT Air Search and Rescue, Quinault Emergency Management and a dog search team from King County Search and Rescue were able to make their way on foot and confirm the location of the aircraft, crashed in rough terrain.
This ends WSDOT’s role in events, according to the news release — the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office will recover the body, while the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the aircraft itself.
“Our role is going to be with recovery of the body and helping the coroner’s office with that recovery,” said Chief Criminal Deputy Jason Wecker in a phone interview. “We’re heading up that way to get a better idea of what we need.”
NTSB investigations can take anywhere from 12 to 18 months, according to the news release.
Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.
The wreckage of a crashed plane that was the subject of a 36-day-search is faintly visible in this aerial photograph taken by Washington State Department of Transportation, highlighting the difficulty of locating the plane from the air. (Courtesy photo / WSDOT)
