It is hard to believe that 10 years ago a horrible plane crash claimed the lives of three young men from the Hood River community: my husband Chris Jones, who owned Son-Rise Development, Paul Linck, the pilot of our plane, and Brook Campbell, who owned Rockin’ the Gorge, a local drywall company.
I remember the night of Jan. 20, 2005. It was my son Matthew’s birthday and I was in Portland out to dinner with Matt, my daughter Kim and my son Jeff. I was driving back to Hood River and by Viento Ridge around 8:10. I called Chris at 8:11 and no answer. He always answered the phone when he was flying. I understand now that the plane went down around 8:14. Paul was a very experienced pilot. When we hired him as our pilot, we sent him to receive training specifically for the Cirrus. He was a “by the book and never take any chances” pilot. There were times when Chris really needed to get to one of our job sites and Paul would not take off due to weather. There was never a doubt in my mind that there was no way that Paul was at fault for this crash. Even though the rumors out there were that Paul was scud running (flying under the clouds) and the National Transportation Safety Board eventually ruled that the cause of the crash was pilot error, I knew in my heart that this was not true. After many years of investigation into the cause, it was discovered that it was a malfunction of one of the instruments in the plane that caused the crash.
Jan. 20, 2005, was a long night. I contacted the Hood River Police and we drove out to the plane hangar to see if the plane was there and something else had possibly happened. The hangar was empty. I went back home and just sat there. I called all three of their phones. No answers. Finally Jenny, Kara and I started to call each other. Jenny called the FAA and the search began. I stayed awake all night not allowing myself to think the worst. Our plane had a parachute so that if the pilot was in trouble all he had to do was deploy the parachute and they would glide to safety. In my mind, it was just a matter of figuring out where they landed.
I still hadn’t contacted anyone except the other two wives and the police. I received my first phone call around 6:30 that morning from a friend who was on his way to Portland. He said he heard on the news that a plane was missing that had left Salem en route to Hood River. I knew at that moment I had better start making some phone calls to family. This made it too real for me.
So, around 6:45 I started calling family. I called my daughter. Jan. 21 was her birthday; she turned 30 that day. I called my sons, Chris’s brother, a few close friends and then just sat there. People starting coming to my home. The phone was ringing nonstop. Food was being brought over. It was surreal. I kept thinking how strange it was that everyone was coming over. Didn’t they know that we are going to find them because they parachuted to safety? I really only wanted to talk to Jenny and Kara. Then Sheriff Joe Wampler was in constant communication with me and I would then call the other two wives. They knew they were going to be okay too! It is amazing how your mind works. I got the phone call around 4:30 that they had located the wreckage. Then around 8:30, Sheriff Wampler was at the door and my whole world came crashing down.
I think about how we have all made it through. I think about how my life is forever changed. I think about the amazing community of Hood River. I think about all the people searching for Chris, Paul and Brook. The Crag Rats, The Wind River Searchers, Civil Air Patrol, the many people who used their own planes to search, the helicopters, the boats on the Columbia, all our friends and family and all the volunteers from the community helping, searching and supporting.
I moved out of Hood River three years ago to be closer to my family. I miss the closeness of Hood River. I miss my friends, my church and the feeling of community. I will forever be grateful for my time in Hood River. I have continued to build since Chris’s death. We loved building homes for people. Chris took pride in the quality and construction of each and every home he built. What a blessing to have that passion. Son-Rise Development built over 150 homes in Hood River and loved every minute of it. It has been 10 years of building without Chris, my partner, and I have made the decision to retire. It gave me satisfaction to continue what Chris had started but also sadness that he wasn’t working beside me.
Thank you, Hood River! The best years of my life were spent living and working alongside my husband Chris in such a beautiful town!
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