The 16-year-old girl who survived a plane crash and hiked her way to safety in Washington told CBS News about the final moments before the small plane went down.
"We saw nothing, we couldn't see a thing," teen Autumn Veatch said. "And grandpa, he was … kind of panicking, we couldn't get the GPS to work. … Then he just said he was going to fly up, so he started to go up … and I didn't see anything until we saw trees."
Veatch's step-grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman of Marion, Montana, were killed in the crash.
>> Watch raw video of Autumn Veatch's interview here.
>> VIDEO: Hear from men who found the plane crash survivor.
The plane, piloted by Leland Bowman, was bringing Veatch home to Whatcom County from a Montana visit.
Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said the Beechcraft A-35 was flying over north-central Washington on its way from Kalispell, Montana, to Lynden, Washington, when it entered a cloud bank. Then the clouds suddenly parted, and from her seat behind the cockpit, Veatch could see the mountain and trees ahead. Leland Bowman tried to pull up — to no avail.
They struck the trees and the plane plummeted to the ground and caught fire.
A National Transportation Safety Board team was expected to arrive Thursday to investigate.
>> PHOTOS: Teen Autumn Veatch survives Washington airplane crash
Veatch arrived home in Bellingham late Tuesday night. Family friends had gathered in anticipation of a happy homecoming, bringing balloons and flowers to the apartment of her father, David Veatch.
Bruised by the impact, singed by the fire, fearing an explosion and knowing she couldn't help her step-grandparents, Autumn Veatch headed down the steep slope, following a creek to a river.
She spent a night on a sand bar and sipped small amounts of water, worrying she might get sick if she drank more.
She followed the river to a trail, and the trail to a highway. Two men driving by stopped and picked her up Monday afternoon, bringing her — about two full days after the crash — to the safety of a general store in tiny Mazama, near the east entrance of North Cascades National Park.
"We just want to show her and her family that we care and we love her," said one friend, Amber Shockey.
"It's astonishing that she could do this."
Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.
KIRO
