It’s been a year since North Bend residents awoke to a loud explosion as a low-flying small airplane crashed into the side of Mount Si around 2AM on February 15, 2012.
Hiking trails were closed for weeks as the crash scene and wreckage were examined as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) performed its crash investigation.
Last month and one year later, the NTSB released a Factual Report about the crash that took the lives of three south Puget Sound high school swim coaches.
The report says there was no evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure with the airframe or engine prior to impact. Weather also didn’t appear to be adverse.
The report states that the pilot had alcohol in his system when the plane crashed into the side of the mountain. According to a Seattle Times story, the pilot “had a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent, nearly four times the 0.04 allowed for a crew member on a civil aircraft.”
For more details on the findings you can read The Seattle Times story on the NTSB’s accident report.
