Crash site
Photo of the Bucklin aircraft crash site in the Wind River Range of NW Wyoming. Photo courtesy Fremont County Sheriff’s Department.
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Victims recovered from plane wreckage
by Fremont County Sheriff’s Department
November 3, 2010
LANDER – Fremont County Coroner Ed McAuslan said today (Wednesday, November 4) that a recovery operation to remove the bodies of four plane crash victims from a crash site deep in the Wind River Mountains of northwest Wyoming went smoothly on Tuesday. He said the operation began at 7:00 a.m. with crew assembly at the Lander Airport and that the operation had concluded there by 5 p.m. Tuesday evening.
"The extrication of the bodies went quickly thanks to the assistance of the Riverton Volunteer Fire Department, which provided the extrication equipment plus four of their trained firefighters for the operation," McAuslan said. "Two of the firefighters are also deputy sheriffs and three are deputy coroners."
The bodies were brought out of the mountains on a helicopter and were transferred to the Fremont County Morgue in Lander.
The body of the pilot of the downed aircraft is being transferred to Loveland, CO for autopsy early Wednesday morning and McAuslan said preliminary autopsy results may be available Wednesday evening.
"The complete autopsy report, however, will not be available for at least four to six weeks as we await results of toxicology and other tests," he said. McAuslan said it is standard procedure that the pilot’s body be autopsied.
The coroner said he would release the victim’s bodies to Hudson’s Funeral Home in Lander on Thursday. The family would then be able to make funeral arrangements.
Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials will now take over the investigation into what caused the crash.
Related Links:
Missing plane found Pinedale Online, Nov. 2, 2010
Air, ground searches still unable to locate missing plane Monday, November 1, 2010
Still no sign of missing plane – search continues Sunday, October 31, 2010
Afternoon update in search for missing plane - Saturday, October 30, 2010
Search for missing aircraft enters 5th day - Saturday, October 30, 2010
Missing aircraft still lost in Wind River Mountains - Friday, October 29, 2010
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