The Associated Press
PORT ANGELES — The crash of a small plane in waters near Port Angeles in late January that killed one person happened after the plane apparently ran out of fuel, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
The agency said in a report of preliminary findings Thursday that the Cessna 170A airplane with one man aboard left Kodiak, Alaska, on Jan. 25 and that, Jan. 26, he refueled and departed Ketchikan, Alaska.
The man texted his mother that afternoon saying a severe headwind was causing concern about whether he had enough fuel to complete the flight, according to the report.
He tried to make it to the Fairchild International Airport in Port Angeles but broadcast a mayday call close to the city saying he was “ditching” near a boat that was towing a barge.
The Coast Guard and Canadian rescue crews covered 1,170 square miles searching the Strait of Juan de Fuca northeast of Port Angeles without finding any sign of the pilot or his plane before calling off the search.
