Autumn Veatch's dad describes ordeal of teen in plane crash

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Autumn Veatch, 16, flagged down a vehicle and told driver she was a survivor of a plane crash
She had been in the plane with her step-grandparents, pilot Leland Bowman and his wife Sharon Bowman
Veatch was taken to the hospital for minor injuries
The plane carrying three people, including the pilot, left western Montana about 1pm on Saturday and was due in Lynden around 4pm
The plane, described as a white and red Beech A-35, has not been found

By Kelly Mclaughlin and Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:40 EST, 13 July 2015 | Updated: 16:54 EST, 14 July 2015

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Found: Autumn Veatch, 16, emerged from the woods in Okanogan County, Washington, two days after a plane she was on with her step grandparents failed to reach its destination. Pictured above recovering from minor injuries in the hospital, with her father David Veatch (left)

A 16-year-old has been reunited with her father, two days after going missing on a plane ride with her grandparents in Washington state.

Autumn Veatch, of Bellingham, was flying with her step-grandparents Leland, 62, and Sharon Bowman, 63, from Kalispell, Montana to Lynden, Washington Saturday afternoon when their small plane crashed in a mountainous area of Okanogan County.

Crews had been searching for the the small, private plane carrying three passengers when it failed to reach its destination by 4pm.

The sole survivor of the crash, Autumn was rescued Monday afternoon when she used her knowledge from watching survival shows to find her way to a trail-head where she waived down a car.

That driver took her to nearby Mazama, Washington where she told police the tragic story of the plane crash, which search and rescue teams have yet to find.

Miraculously, Autumn survived with just a few minor injuries, and was healthy enough to smile in photos at the hospital when she was reunited with her father, David Veatch.

'We're just impressed,' Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers told ABC News. 'She's kind of like a superhero. It's just amazing what she went through, especially at 16.'

According to Autumns's father, the teen tried to rescue her grandparents from the wreckage of the plane and failed.

She then stayed at the scene of the crash for about a day, before realizing she needed to find help instead of wait for search and rescue crews.

Sheriff Rodgers said Autumn did the right thing by using a river to guide her back towards civilization and sleeping on a sandbar at night for safety.

'She started hiking out, she came down off the mountain, she found a creek, she followed the creek down the river,' Rogers said.

By the time she found help, Autumn was suffering a few abrasions and dehydration due to exposure - but is otherwise healthy and is expected to make a full recovery.

While authorities still haven't found the Bowman's crashed plane, Rodgers says he won't be taking Autumn back into the forest to search for the wreck.

911 call from teenager who walked away from plane crash

Off the radar: Autumn (pictured) and her step grandparents Leland Bowman, 62, and Sharon Bowman, 63, went for a flight Saturday afternoon but didn't return at 4pm, when they were expected back

Couple: Leland Bowman, 62, and Sharon Bowman, 63, pictured above. Autumn was in Montana on a trip visiting her mother, KIRO reported. The Bowmans are reportedly the in-laws to the mother, who has remarried.

The Beech A-35 left Kalispell, Montana, about 1pm local time Saturday, headed for Lynden, Washington, and expected to land at 4pm. Family members notified authorities when the plane did not arrive.

Five aircraft equipped with special radios for detecting the missing plane's emergency-locator transmitter had been flying over a rugged, mountainous area of Washington state on Monday, searching for the small, private plane.

The plane crossed the Idaho-Washington border about 2.20pm local time Saturday, but it dropped off the radar near Omak, Washington, about an hour later, transportation officials said.

The last phone signal from one of the plane's occupants was detected around 3.50pm.

'I just, I had a bad feeling about it when they told me what was going on,' David Veatch, the teen's father, told KIRO.

He said he only found out his daughter was on the plane when he got a call that the aircraft went missing.

'I just, I really don't like those smaller planes. I've been on them before. They're scary. They don't feel safe,' he said.

Passenger: Veatch had been 'walking for days' Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said Monday afternoon after the girl had reached a trail head and flagged down a driver. She was taken to the hospital but only suffered minor injuries

Teen walks into gas station saying she was in plane crash

Veatch says that his daughter is doing good and only sustained minor injuries in the crash. She was being held over night at a Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster for observation.

According to KING 5, Autumn told her father that she tried to pull her grandparents from the wreckage of the plane, but failed, and spent about a day at the crash scene, crying, waiting for rescuers before setting off.

Veatch says be believes his daughter was able to make it to a trailhead by watching shows like Survivor Man with him.

'She watches a lot of survival shows with me...Survivor Man should be proud of her.

'She's just an amazing kid. She's very gifted. There's more to her than she knows. I keep trying to tell her that, but she doesn't believe me. Maybe now she'll understand what I see.'

Family trip: Autumn was in Montana on a trip visiting her mother, KIRO reported

In laws: The Bowmans are reportedly the in-laws to Autumn's mother, who has remarried. Above, a picture of Sharon Bowman, posted to Facebook

The search Monday had focused on an area south of Mount Baker and northeast of Seattle.

The Civil Air Patrol's Cell Phone Forensics and Radar Analysis teams were analyzing clues left by the phones that were on board.

'These grids contain some of the toughest mountainous terrain in the state,' Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman Julie DeBardelaben said.

Rain early Monday slowed efforts, but clearing skies in the afternoon were expected to help with the search.

Bowman has been a pilot for over three decades, his cousin Mary Bowman told NBC Montana.

Referring to records from the FAA, KGMI wrote that 'Bowman has a private pilot license and needs to wear glasses for near vision.'

The last phone signal from one of the plane's occupants was detected around 11pm in an area near Omak, Washington.

Autumn was in Montana on a trip visiting her mother, KIRO reported. The Bowmans are reportedly the in-laws to the mother, who has remarried.

Volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol and Washington Air Search and Rescue are assisting Department of Transportation Aviation Emergency Services with the search.

Close: David Veatch, father of Autumn Veatch, said that he and his daughter were close, but that he only found out his daughter was on the plane when he got a call that the aircraft was missing