Autumn Veatch is released from hospital after her dad treats her to a McDonald's

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Autumn Veatch, 16, was released from hospital on Tuesday after spending the night recovering
She and her step grandparents were flying from Kalispell, Montana to Bellingham, Washington on Saturday when their plane crashed
The 16-year-old was the only survivor of the crash, and was rescued on Monday when she hiked down a river and to a trailhead
Her father, David Veatch rushed from Bellingham to the hospital in Brewster to be at his daughter's side
He even brought her McDonald's Chicken McNuggets in the morning

By Kelly Mclaughlin For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 13:36 EST, 14 July 2015 | Updated: 00:31 EST, 15 July 2015

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The 16-year-old sole survivor of a small plane crash in the mountains of north-central Washington has been released from hospital.

Autumn Veatch was wheeled out to her car surrounded by family and friends on Tuesday as she headed home to Bellingham from Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster.

She did not speak publicly, but friends, family and doctors said she was doing 'very well' despite what she had been through.

Autumn Veatch was picked up by a driver in Mazama on Monday after she hiked through a thick forest to safety in what a rescuer called a miracle.

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Going home: Autumn Veatch, 16, was pushed in a wheelchair out to her father's car on Tuesday after she was released from hospital

Support: Veatch was surrounded by friends and family, some holding flowers, as she left Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster for Bellingham, Washington

Road to recovery: Autumn Veatch, 16, ate McDonald's in her hospital bed just a day after emerging from the woods in Okanogan County, Washington, on Monday after surviving a small plane crash

Her father, David Veatch, made the drive from Bellingham to Brewster on Monday night. Tuesday morning, he brought her McDonald's, per her request.

In the 911 call released by authorities Tuesday, Veatch told the dispatcher she had been flying from Kalispell, Montana, to Bellingham, Washington when the plane down after hitting bad weather.

Veatch said she had 'a lot of burns on my hands, and I'm like kind of covered in bruises and scratches.'

Her step-grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman of Marion, Montana, were killed in the crash. They were the only other passengers.

David Veatch said on Tuesday that his daughter was doing well, adding that she was in 'amazing physical shape'. He did say, however, that she was a little dehydrated and exhausted from hiking.

'We had, I don't know how many people say they're praying for her on Facebook. Yes, I believe it works,' he told KIRO. 'Now, if I can convince her to come to church with me.'

Veatch told authorities that after the crash, fearing an explosion and knowing she couldn't help the other victims, she headed down the steep slope, following a creek to a river.

Brave: Veatch (right), pictured here with her dad, David Veatch (second right) and family friends, hiked through the woods to safety after a plane she was on with her step-grandparents failed to reach its destination

Strong: Veatch was taken to the hospital, pictured left with her father, and was treated for burns and minor dehydration. Her step-grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman of Marion, Montana, were killed in the crash. Pictured right, Veatch took a selfie just before takeoff

Couple: Leland Bowman, 62, and Sharon Bowman, 63, pictured above. Leland Bowman was issued a private pilot license in 2011, and the plane, manufactured in 1949, was registered to him, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

She spent a night on a sand bar, where she felt safer. She drank small amounts of the flowing water but worried she might get sick if she drank more.

She followed the river to a trail, and the trail to a highway. Two men driving by stopped and picked her up Monday afternoon, bringing her - about two full days after the crash - to the safety of a general store in Mazama, a tiny town in north-central Washington, near the east entrance of North Cascades National Park.

She was picked up Monday afternoon and taken 30 miles to a general store, where employees also called 911.

'She's just an amazing kid,' David Veatch told KING5. '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.'

Veatch apparently credited her father's love of survivor-type television shows for her ability to get through the woods.She said they taught her a few tips on how to make it through day so hiking in mountainous terrain.

Caring: Veatch was described as an 'amazing kid' by her father, who also joked she was able to survive in the woods after watching 'survivor' TV shows with him

In a relationship: Veatch's boyfriend, Newton Goss, pictured here holding a photo of his girlfriend, was supposed to pick Veatch up with his mom after she and her step-grandparents landed

Love: Goss said Veatch texted him throughout the flight and when he heard the plan went missing, he 'had all the hope in the world that she was going to make it out fine'

Autumn Veatch's boyfriend, Newton Goss, said he and his mother were supposed to pick her up from the airport Saturday.

He and Autumn were texting back and forth when his final text to her failed to go through, he said.

Goss, 16, showed the texts he received from Veatch during the flight, including one that read, 'this is so bumpy and it's making me feel yucky'.

Later, he heard about the missing plane and his heart dropped.

'I had all the hope in the world that she was going to make it out fine,' he said.

Goss said he has spoken to Autumn several times since her ordeal.

'She wanted McDonald's. How do you go through that situation and just go, "I really want McDonald's right now"?' he said. 'She's being really light-hearted like she usually is with me. That's reassuring.'

Sheriff Frank Rogers, who spoke with Veatch, said Leland Bowman was flying too low when the plane crashed and that 'he tried to pull up, but it was too late'.

'She said they were flying in the clouds, and in an instant, it opened up and there was the mountain, and they crashed into the trees,' Rogers told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday.

911 call from teenager who walked away from plane crash

They struck the trees and the plane plummeted to the ground and caught fire.

'They crashed right into the trees and hit the ground. She tried to do what she could to help her grandparents, but she couldn't because of the fire,' Rogers said.

He added, however, that everyone at the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office was 'just so impressed' with Veatch.

'She's kinda like a super hero,' he told KING5. 'Just amazing us what she went through, especially at 16. Enough for an adult, but at 16, its pretty impressive.'

Searchers are still looking for the plane wreckage.

Rick LeDuc, owner of the Mazama store where Veatch was taken to by drivers, said the teen seemed traumatized from what she had been through.

'I think it made everybody feel good that they were able to help and that somebody was able to survive,' LeDuc told KING5. 'It's pretty miraculous she was able to do what she did.'

Family trip: Veatch was in Montana on a trip visiting her mother and was flying back to her hometown of Bellingham, Washington

Young: At just 16, many people have been amazed by Veatch's strength and ability to hike through the woods on her own

Veatch had no life-threatening injuries but was dehydrated and suffering from a treatable muscle tissue breakdown caused by vigorous exercise without food or water, said Scott Graham, CEO of Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster.

'It's a miracle, no question about it,' Lt. Col. Jeffrey Lustick of the Civil Air Patrol told reporters, saying he has spent 30 years in search and rescue. 'Moments of joy like this can be hard to find.'

Santina Lampman, a longtime family friend who was in the room when Autumn called her father to report that she was OK, told the Seattle Times that the teen was glad to be alive.

'She did joke that it was a good thing she'd watched all those 'Survivor' shows that she didn't like, but her dad made her watch anyway,' Lampman said.

Lampan said that Veatch's family and friends never lost hope.

'Nobody had that feeling that she was gone,' she told KIRO. 'We all just kind of kept saying - but we don't feel like it, we feel like she's still there somewhere.'

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

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

Ambulance: After Veatch called 911 at the general store, she was taken to a hospital in Brewster to be treated for minor injuries

The trail Autumn Veatch navigated is called Easy Pass, but the Washington Trails Association website says: 'don't be fooled by the name - the way to Easy Pass is anything but easy.' The trail leads to the gateway of the North Cascades National Park, but along the way it passes through steep terrain.

The Beech A-35 left Kalispell, Montana, on Saturday afternoon, heading for Lynden, Washington. The plane crossed the Idaho-Washington border about 2.20pm PDT but dropped off the radar near Omak, Washington, about an hour later, officials said.

Rescuers narrowed down a search area based on cellphone data and typical flight patterns. But there was no sign of the aircraft or its occupants until the teen walked out of the woods.

The girl had been 'walking for a couple of days,' said Rogers, the sheriff. He called her feat 'pretty impressive.'

Leland Bowman was issued a private pilot license in 2011, and the plane, manufactured in 1949, was registered to him, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

Teen walks into gas station saying she was in plane crash