Pilot's 2nd Fatal Accident

Mysteries remain in fatal plane collision

BARRY GINTER THE OLYMPIAN
Investigators are expected to release a preliminary report today into
the fatal plane crash that occurred southeast of Tenino on Sunday, but
many questions about the accident remain unanswered.

Two Cessnas collided about 8:30 p.m. near Skookumchuck Road.

The pilot of one, Scott Christopher Devlin, 33, who was on his way to
Renton from his hometown of Camas, was killed in the crash.

The pilot of the other plane, Ghryn E. Loveness, 20, who was headed home
to Vashon Island after departing from Portland, survived after a crash
landing. There were no passengers in either airplane.

The report will raise the question of whether there was a third plane in
the area flying at a much lower height than the planes that collided,
said Tom Little, a National Transportation Safety Board air safety
investigator based in Seattle.

Initial reports indicated the planes crashed about 800 feet above the
ground, but radar indicated they collided at a height of about 3,500
feet, Little said.

Conflicting accounts

Other conflicting witness accounts must be addressed.

Some witnesses said one plane was doing stunts prior to the crash,
including sharp nosedives followed by swift ascents.

Jon Grayless was washing his barn when he saw a plane doing stunts
overhead. It was just a few seconds later that the planes collided, he said.

He did not see the collision, but he said he is almost certain it was
Devlin's plane that was doing the stunts.

But another witness, John Benedict, told investigators neither plane had
been doing stunts, according to his wife, Sheryl Benedict.

Devlin's family visited the crash site and indicated he was not a stunt
flyer and the plane was not equipped to do stunts, she said.

The report expected to be released today will not levy fault. A final
report is expected to take at least six months. Little will interview
other witnesses prior to its release, he said.

"There are so many different aspects of this, we have to investigate,"
Little said. "There's just lots of unknowns."

The airplanes are now in Seattle for examination, he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration also is conducting an investigation.
The results of the FAA's investigation will be turned over to the
National Transportation Safety Board.

Loveness' plane lost its engine after the collision, Little said. Pilots
don't normally survive that type of crash, he said.

"It's more amazing than amazing," Little said. Normally, a plane goes
into an uncontrollable spin when it sustains that amount of damage, he said.

"He did a heck of a job to get it on the ground."