Father-son killed in Cascades plane crash

July 11, 2011

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration continue to investigate the crash of a single-engine airplane that took off from Elk on Friday evening and crashed in rugged terrain in the Cascade Mountains, killing two people aboard according to Washington State Department of Transportation officials.
The pair, Matthew K. Annis, 45, and his 8-year-old son, Matthew Reilly Annis, were headed to the annual Arlington Fly-In.
The Piper PA 22 took off from the Elk Heights airstrip near Reflection Lake about 5:10 p.m. Friday and was due to land in Arlington by 8 p.m. A friend of the pilot notified the state WSDOT’s Aviation Division on Saturday morning that the aircraft had not shown up.
Federal Aviation Administration records show that the Elk airstrip is owned by Annis and his wife, Nanine, and that he owned the 1953 Piper PA 22.
Naval search and rescue units were deployed. They discovered the wreckage near Liberty Mountain, about 15 miles east of Granite Falls and above the Mountain Loop Highway on Saturday afternoon. A rescuer who was lowered by helicopter confirmed that there were no survivors.
A rescue crew was able to recover the bodies on Sunday by helicoptering to a ridge near the crash site and rappelling to the wreckage.
Possible causes of the crash are unknown and will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, said the FAA’s Mike Fergus.