The family of a Washington man who died in a plane crash deep in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness say they’re facing a $25,000 to $50,000 bill to remove the plane’s debris from a steep mountainside far from any road.
Wayne Wirt, 67, of Chehalis, Washington, died about 4:15 p.m. Sept. 22 when his Piper Cherokee crashed just south of Mount Jefferson on a high peak during a solo flight between California and Washington.
Wirt, who built movie sets in southern California before retiring to Chehalis years ago, leaves behind a wife and three children who now bear the cost of paying to have the plane’s debris removed from a location that’s extremely difficult to access.
“This heavy cost falls on (the) family to cover,” wrote April Winters, Wayne’s daughter-in-law, on a GoFundMe page set up to help raise the money.
She said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Linn County Sheriff's Office are looking into what caused the crash.
Read the full story in the Salem Statesman Journal: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/10/06/plane-pilot-fatal-crash-oregon-mount-jefferson-debris-cleanup-fundraiser/69540319007/
