By: Pepper Fisher
LA PUSH, Wash. – A man is in critical condition today after apparently stealing an airplane from the Jefferson County airport and then crashing it near La Push.
On Tuesday, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office got a report of a suspicious man attempting to rent a plane at the airport. The caller said the man couldn’t produce a pilot’s license or insurance when asked. The man was referred to a plane owner as someone who might fly him to where he wanted to go. He then contacted the owner and asked to be flown to Astoria, Oregon, but the owner thought him suspicious and turned him down.
Sometime later, deputies got a report of a missing plane at the Jefferson County Airport. The plane was reported by the owner as stolen. The owner also told them that, according to GPS, the plane was flying over the national park.
Sgt. Anglin from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the suspect appeared to be heading nowhere near Astoria.
“We thought it was going to…wanting to head to Astoria. We do know that he stopped at the Bremerton airport and successfully landed, and likely took off from there. However, his flight path was complete opposite direction of Astoria, and it’s unknown why he went head north instead of south towards Astoria.”
The GPS transmissions quit about 20 miles north of Hoquiam in Grays Harbor County.
At about 10:30pm an eyewitness reported a possible plane crash near the La Push area. Deputies and other law enforcement attempted to search the area but couldn’t locate the plane in rough terrain.
A search was resumed this morning and a US Navy helicopter crew reported locating a downed plane within Olympic National Park near La Push with a pilot in critical condition. Anglin says the plane was the same one stolen from the airport on Tuesday.
The suspect, 59-year-old Richard Jordal of Richland, Washington was transported by the Navy helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He is reportedly still in critical condition and unconscious.
Anglin says the plane is in a heavily wooded area and so may take an extended time to recover. He says the NTSB, the FBI and the state DOT have been notified and may join in the investigation.
(NAS SAR Whidbey Island photos)