Eyewitnesses Describe the 'Horrific Scene'
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Chehalis City Councilor $1 Arrested for Mid-Week Edition Alleged DUI Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014 / Main 10 Reaching 110,000 Readers in Print and Online — www.chronline.com A History of Plane Crashes Yard Birds Mall Theft A Look Back at 30 Years of Aviation Former Manager of Chehalis Business Tragedies in Lewis County / Main 14 Admits Stealing $35,000 / Main 5 Chehalis Plane Crash Investigators Seek Cause of Crash A plane is seen burning Tuesday in this photograph taken by Chehalis Collision Center employee Tyrell Daily, the second person to arrive at the scene. Eyewitnesses Describe the ‘Horrific Scene’ By Dameon Pesanti [email protected] It was an ordinary evening in the west side neighborhood of Chehalis moments before a plane fell out of the sky Tuesday. Tyrell Daily was driving on Interstate 5. Devin Rowland was at home browsing the Internet. Sarah Dailey was walking to her car in the Walmart parking lot. Victoria Romero was in her living room without her glasses on, lying on the couch with her son watching a movie. It was a warm evening and the curtains on Pete Caster / [email protected] the window above her were pulled back, Tom Little, an air safety investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board Western Paciic Region, takes a photo of debris from Tuesday evening's letting the last few hours of sun into the plane crash at Chehalis Collision Center on NW Maryland Avenue in Chehalis on Wednesday morning. room when something — maybe a bird, she thought — caught her eye. “I saw something go down really fast, I CORONER: Investigator Says ‘It Centralia Airport narrowly missed In- The pilot, who was the sole occupant terstate 5 during its violent descent that was thinking, ‘Was that a plane? Naw, it Could Have Been A Lot Worse’; on the plane, died in the crash. His name couldn’t have been,’” she said. killed its pilot. has not yet been released. Then she heard the crash and saw the Pilot’s Name Will Be Released “It could have been a lot worse if he Little told The Chronicle on Wednes- fire. After Dental Confirmation had hit the freeway,” said National day that he had interviewed a pilot who Dailey was just getting in her car when Transportation Safety Board Air Safety was at the airport at the time of the crash she heard the boom. Driving over the West By Stephanie Schendel and Christopher Brewer Investigator Tom Little, who was on the and watched the aircraft take off Tues- crash scene Wednesday morning. Street viaduct, she could see the smoke The Chronicle day night. rising in a enormous black column with Instead of hitting the busy interstate, The other pilot told Little the plane flames “20 to 30 feet high.” An experimental plane that plunged the small plane hit two pickup trucks in began its ascent and appeared to reach She was worried because her husband to the ground Tuesday evening shortly the parking lot of the Chehalis Collision and son were home just a couple blocks after taking off from the Chehalis- Center. Both vehicles burst into flames. please see CAUSE, page Main 15 away from the scene. please see SCENE, page Main 15 Crashed Plane Was A Lightweight, ‘Docile’ Aircraft EXPERIMENTAL: Pilot Says P-5151 Mustang Is Made Mostly of Wood and Fabric Loehle Aero Coatings / Courtesy photo By Dameon Pesanti This photograph, [email protected] taken from the Although almost none of the airplane was visible in manufacturer’s the photographs of Tuesday’s crash, Jerry Sorrell knew website, shows a the manufacturer. P-5151 in light. “I thought, ‘That’s probably a Loehle aircraft,’” Sorrell Chehalis Fire Department ireighters spray water said. at two pickup trucks that caught ire after a plane crash Tuesday. please see AIRCRAFT, page Main 14 The Chronicle, Serving The Greater Weather Standardized Tests Deaths Lewis County Area Since 1889 TONIGHT: Low 56 See How Short, John, 87, Chehalis Follow Us on Twitter TOMORROW: High 72 Coler, Janie A., 72, Olympia @chronline Mostly Cloudy Your Landeis, Frank J., 74, see details on page Main 2 School Centralia Find Us on Facebook Goldie, Anita Muriel, 97, www.facebook.com/ Weather picture by Kyra District Centralia thecentraliachronicle Eckloff, Mossyrock Fared / Halliwell, Kenneth Edwin, 61, Main 7 Centralia CH525208cz.cg Main 2 • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014 COMMUNITY CALENDAR / WEATHER CalendarCommunity WHAT’S HAPPENING? Editor’s Best Bet If you have an event you would like included in the Community Calendar, Packwood to Draw Huge Crowd for Flea Market please email your information to [email protected]. Include a Thousands of people will be traveling to Packwood this For those who want to avoid the largest crowds, the best daytime telephone number where you Labor Day weekend for the Packwood Flea Market Friday day to attend is Friday. Saturday is the busiest day, while Sun- can be reached. through Monday. day is moderate in regard to attendance. The flea market also There is no charge for these listings. Vendors set up shop over a mile-long stretch as they pre- is open on Monday, Labor Day, but vendors begin to close For questions about calendar items, pare for the hoard of visitors that descend on the East Lewis up shop about 2 p.m. Find more information at destination- call Doug Blosser at The Chronicle, County community. packwood.com and packwoodfleamarket.com. (360) 807-8238. Today Support Groups Support Groups James Haye, 6-8:30 p.m., Jeremy’s Farm to Table, Open mic, 6:30 p.m., Matrix Coffeehouse, 476 W. Main St., Chehalis, (360) 748-4417 Chehalis, (360) 740-0492 “Up From Grief,” for those grieving the loss of a H.O.P.E., all addictions, 7:30-9 p.m., Heritage “Guardians of the Galaxy,” 7 p.m., Roxy The- Baptist Church of Tenino, 1315 Sussex Ave. E., Teni- “Let’s Grow a Garden,” 10-11:30 a.m., 4162 Jack- loved one, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Morton Commu- ater, Morton, rated PG-13, $8 adults, $7 children, no, (360) 480-0592, [email protected] son Highway, free, (360) 262-0525 nity Methodist Church, Fourth and Main, Morton, students, seniors, (360) 496-5599 (360) 330-2640 Life Recovery Group, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Dayspring CC Grow, farmers market, noon-3 p.m., Centra- Baptist Church, 2088 Jackson Highway, Chehalis, lia College, across from Health & Wellness Center, Overeaters Anonymous, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Im- (360) 748-3401 (360) 736-9391, ext. 650 manuel Lutheran Church, 1209 N. Scheuber Road, Libraries Centralia, (360) 736-9268 Clarissa Gifford, noon-1 p.m., Jeremy’s Farm to Packwood library closed, Labor Day Flea Market Table, 476 W. Main St., Chehalis, (360) 748-4417 Us Too Southwest Washington Prostate Cancer Support Group, 7-8 p.m., Mother Joseph Room, Saturday, Aug. 30 Providence Centralia Hospital, (360) 388-6271 Sunday, Aug. 31 Public Agencies Club Mom Children’s Clothing Bank and Ex- change, 1-3 p.m., Chehalis First Christian Church, Bingo, doors open 5 p.m., bingo starts 6:30 p.m., Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging, Friday, Aug. 29 111 NW Prindle St., (360) 269-0587 or (360) 748-3702 Forest Grange, 3397 Jackson Highway, Chehalis Council of Governments, 2 p.m., 2404 Heritage Chehalis-Centralia Railroad, coach trains, excur- Court SW, Suite A, Olympia, (360) 664-3162, ext. Community meal, 1-3 p.m., Rotary Riverside Oregon Trail music and dancing, open mic with sion to Milburn, 1 and 3 p.m., adults $14, seniors $13, 112, (888) 545-0910, ext. 112, or email Rebecca. Park, Centralia, free, sponsored by Jesus Name Side Kicks Band, 7 p.m., Cowlitz Prairie Grange, children 4-15 $11, 3 and under free, 1101 Sylvenus St., Pentecostal Church, Chehalis, (360) 623-9438 [email protected] Chehalis, (360) 748-9593, www.steamtrainride.com (360) 864-2023 Dancing, Jack & the Roadrunners, 1:30- Bob Garcia and Melodies Recycled Band, 7-9:30 Chehalis-Centralia Railroad, coach train, excur- 4:30 p.m., Swede Hall, Rochester, (360) 807-1761, Libraries p.m., Twin Cities Senior Center, $5, (360) 262-3041 sion to Ruth, 5 p.m., adults $17, seniors $16, children (360) 520-6518 4-15 $14, children 3 and under free, 101 Sylvenus St., Lewis County Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Chehalis-Centralia Railroad, coach trains, excur- LabARTory: Summer Snow Storms, for all ages, Chehalis, (360) 748-9593, www.steamtrainride.com all day, Tenino corner of Pearl and Maple streets, Centralia, (360) sion to Milburn, 1 and 3 p.m., adults $14, seniors $13, 736-8977, [email protected] Regular excursion steam train ride and museum children 4-15 $11, 3 and under free, 1101 Sylvenus St., Healthy Lifestyle: Seasonal Canning, for teens tour, Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad, 10 a.m., 12:45 p.m. Chehalis, (360) 748-9593, www.steamtrainride.com and adults, 5:30 p.m., Oakville Eclectics, 9 p.m.-1 a.m., Scatter Creek Grill, Lucky and 3:30 p.m., barbecue upgrade available on 3:30 Eagle Casino, (360) 273-2000, ext. 301 Regular excursion steam train ride and museum train, Elbe-Mineral, (360) 492-5588, reservations tour, Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad, 10 a.m., 12:45 p.m. Regular excursion steam train ride and museum (888) STEAM11 Organizations tour, Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad, 3:30 p.m., barbe- and 3:30 p.m., Elbe-Mineral, (360) 492-5588, reser- Tenino Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Tenino vations (888) STEAM11 Bucoda Rebekah Lodge 144, 7 p.m., Bucoda cue upgrade available, Elbe-Mineral, (360) 492- Elementary School, 301 Old Highway 99, Tenino, Oddfellows Community Center, 202 S.