Cessna 340-A Down In Washington Mountains

A Cessna 430-A with three people on board went down Monday, fatally injuring all three people on board. Authorities said the aircraft "struggled to maintain altitude," but eventually impacted the ground after losing 10,000 feet of altitude in just over a minute.

File Photo

The Seattle Times reports that the Cessna lost power in one of its engines shortly after takeoff from Chehalis, WA. FAA records indicate it went down about 8 miles from Morton, WA. The plane was reportedly en route to Lewiston, ID, but had executed a 180 degree turn in an attempt to return to the airport.

FAA records indicate the aircraft was registered to Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute. One of those killed in the accident was a well-known eye surgeon who used the airplane to travel around the northeast to see patients. The pilot and a laser technician were the others aboard the plane.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 68718        Make/Model: C340      Description:
  Date: 10/25/2010     Time: 1440

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: MORTON   State: WA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 3 PERSONS ON BOARD WERE
  FATALLY INJURED, AIRCRAFT WAS THE SUBJECT OF AN ALERT NOTICE, WRECKAGE
  LOCATED 8 MILES FROM MORTON, WA

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   3
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   2      Fat:   2     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:           Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: METAR CLS 251415Z AUTO 18009KT 7SM -RA SCT021 BKN037 OVC046 09/09 A2967

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: SEATTLE, WA  (NM01)                   Entry date: 10/27/2010

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov