Wreckage of an airplane loaded with skydivers was found near Boise, Idaho, Monday and the bodies of seven of the 10 people on board had been found.

The single-engine plane, based out of Snohomish, Wash., had taken off Sunday with a pilot and nine sky-diving passengers for a season-ending leap. The wreckage of the Cessna 208 Grand Caravan was discovered about 7:40 p.m. Monday in a heavily wooded area east of White Pass in the Cascades mountain range, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

Search officials told the newspaper they had found the bodies of seven victims and were trying to verify the remaining three.

A hunter first reported seeing a low-flying plane and hearing a crash Sunday evening near Rimrock Lake. A search team followed the odor of fuel to the crash site, state emergency management officials said.

"It looks like we just lost a part of our family," Charlie Markin, treasurer of Seattle Skydivers, told the Post-Intelligencer. "It hurts. I don't know what other way to say it."  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 09 October 2007   

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