07/14/2015
(CNN) — Autumn Veatch, 16, couldn't tell the 911 operator where in the Washington state wilderness the small plane went down. Somehow, she survived; her grandparents apparently didn't.Covered in burns and bruises, Autumn hiked out of the rugged North Cascades Mountains two days after Saturday's crash, police said.She flagged down a passing motorist, who drove her to a store in Mazama, Washington, near the Canadian border. The man called police before handing Autumn the phone."So tell me exactly what happened," the dispatcher told the girl, according to a transcript of the call."I was riding from Kalispell, Montana, to Bellingham, Washington, and ... well, I don't know where, but we crashed and I was the only one that made it out," Autumn said calmly and in a low voice."Made it out from the collision?""From the plane," she said."Or survived?""Yeah, the only one that survived.""Are you injured at all?""Yeah, I have a lot of burns on my hands, and I'm ... kind of covered in bruises and scratches and stuff."Autumn was flying with her grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman, in a small private plane when it apparently ran into trouble.Two days later, the teenager followed a stream and made her way out of the wilderness.Jessica Jerwa, a spokeswoman for the Washington Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, told CNN she called Autumn's father, David, with news of her survival."It was incredible for me to be able to give that information," she said. "I have a 16-year-old son myself."David Veatch had been napping at the time."He was still a little sleepy when I told him that Autumn walked out and that she was safe," Jerwa recalled. "He just sort of paused and took a moment, and then just went, 'What?'"Jerwa said Autumn may be released from a hospital later Tuesday.Autumn's friend Chelsey Clark said the girl slept part of the day Tuesday but seemed to be in good condition.But she is struggling with the loss, Veatch told CNN affiliate KCPQ."These people were really playing the part of grandparents to her and that's hitting her really hard," he said.He added, "I believe in God. ... There's no way I cannot believe in God."The 1949 Beech A35 aircraft, registered to Leland Bowman, dropped off the radar near Omak, Washington, just before 3:30 p.m. Saturday, according to authorities. It had taken off from western Montana around 1 p.m.Hiking for help in cold wilderness"Autumn did not tell us the condition of her grandparents, but it doesn't sound good. It doesn't sound like they made …
