Small Jet Crashes Off Whidbey Island

Whidbey News-Times photoby Christina Tercero

The plane was a Cessna 525 jet aircraft, said Mike Fergus with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Couple Escape Plane Crash, Swim Ashore

The pilot was identified as James C. Ray, 80, and his passenger as Helcia M. Graf, 73, said Deputy Ross Lindner. Both are from Ketchum, Idaho.

The two -- with their dog -- swam from the downed aircraft and were picked up by a nearby boat, the Island County sheriff's office said.

They were treated at Whidbey General Hospital and released in "very good" condition, said sheriff's spokeswoman Jan Smith.

Photo Courtesy Gudrun Bayless

The couple and their yellow Labrador retriever were en route from Victoria, British Columbia, to Boise.

The pilot ditched after experiencing control problems and realizing it would be impossible to land at a nearby airfield, Smith said. The plane went in about 200 yards from shore, south of the Coupeville dock, she said.

The plane's tail was sticking out of the water after the crash, Smith said.

The accident, about 45 miles north of Seattle, was not expected to affect sailboat races around the island this week, Smith said.

The Coast Guard and the state Department of Ecology were working with the owner of a local mussel farm to clean up any spilled fuel, Lindner said.

The plane, a 1996 Citation turbojet, is registered to Tango Corp. in Minden, Nev., he said.

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