QUILCENE — A small passenger airplane crash in the Buck Mountain area near Quilcene killed one person and injured another, officials said Saturday.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office did not release by Saturday the identities of the two people who were aboard the plane when it crashed Friday night.
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Haas, who acts as the county coroner, said he could not confirm that next of kin had been notified and therefore would not release identifying information.
“That has probably been accomplished by now but I’m not in a position to confirm,” Haas said in an email.
The Sheriff’s Office received a report about a plane crash in the Buck Mountain area near Quilcene at about 10:38 p.m. Friday, according to a press release.
The 9-1-1 caller was one of the two people in the aircraft.
When search and rescue teams arrived, one person was dead and the second was treated for injuries and airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the release.
Members of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Quilcene Fire &Rescue and Brinnon Fire Department searched the area based on GPS location. They requested assistance from Naval Base Whidbey Island and Rescue 75, the Navy’s search and rescue helicopter.
Chief Criminal Deputy Art Frank of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the location within the Olympic National Forest was extremely remote. Due to thick trees and cloud cover, the teams could not find the airplane.
However, search teams from Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Olympic Mountain Rescue hiked into the remote area and found the two people.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. The board could not be reached for comment Saturday.
