Updated Feb.1
The pilot of a small plane died near the top of Mount Hood this week when the craft hit the headwall of Eliot Glacier on the peak’s north side.
Searchers reached the body of the pilot, George Regis, 63, of Camas, Wash. on Wednesday after a four-hour traverse. Regis had been thrown about 100 feet from the fuselage.
The plane broke apart and may never be recovered, according to Hood River County Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Pete Hughes. He said parts of the plane are next to a crevasse and are liable to move and become even more inaccessible, given the snowfall and winds expected to hit the glacier as early as Friday.
“It’s in a bad spot. We may never get to it,” Hughes said, adding that several climbers’ bodies from over the years are still on the mountain, as rescuers know where they are but have never been able to reach them.
The cause of the crash is unknown.
“We don’t know yet,” Hughes said, adding, “weather was not an obvious factor.”
While the plane was spotted Tuesday, the time and date of the crash is unknown; Regis had not been seen by his family since Jan. 25.
Regis had not filed a flight plan before leaving Camas, and there was no radio traffic from the craft, according to Hughes.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said it will be six to 12 months before they can complete their investigation. Hughes said it is unlikely that NTSB will be able to visit the remote and precarious crash site.
The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigaging, as are the Sheriff’s Offices of Hood River County and Clark County, Wash. — Regis’ home county.
Wednesday’s weather conditions were cold but windless as Crag Rats and National Guard personnel left Cloud Cap Inn at 4:30 a.m. to reach the wreckage.
Responding were Hood River Crag Rats, Air Force Reserve and National Guard personnel, along with Hood River County Sheriff’s Deputies. They had to cross steep, icy terrain but weather conditions were favorable.
The searchers’ goal Wednesday was to retrieve Regis’ body and bring it back to Cloud Cap and, from there, by snow-cat to Cooper Spur Ski Area.
The county’s medical examiner responded, and Regis’ body was taken to Portland for an autopsy, according to Hughes.
Regis was reported missing Jan. 25. Civil Air Patrol located his beacon and sent up two aircrafts to confirm its location.
Hughes said Regis was reportedly an experienced pilot, and his family thought he planned to fly to Phoenix, but had not known if he had left.
“They started putting two and two together, and realized he was gone,” Hughes said.
The plane wreckage is on United States Forest Service property, Hughes said.
The crash is the first since the 2005 tragedy that claimed the lives of pilot Paul Linck and passengers Chris Jones and Brook Campbell in the Viento Ridge area west of Hood River.
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