Pilot survives plane crash in Mukilteo

MUKILTEO — The wrecked airplane was upside down in a pool of its own fuel.

Power lines tore off the right wing of the 1972 Bellanca ­Viking as the plane crash-landed on a Mukilteo road, reportedly hitting the ground at speeds up to 100 mph. The plane skidded more than 200 feet. Its propeller lay in the road several feet from the wreckage.

Amazingly, the pilot survived.

“I’d say he’s very lucky,” Mukilteo police detective Lance Smith said.

Investigators believe the pilot, a 51-year-old man from Woodinville, was planning to land at Paine Field about 12:40 p.m. Saturday when his plane crashed in the 12200 block of Cyrus Way — about half-a-mile from the runway — in an area surrounded by homes and businesses.

A pair of workers at a nearby window-replacement company were first on the scene and provided first aid to the pilot until paramedics arrived. The pilot was taken to Providence Everett Medical Center Colby Campus for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The cause of the crash is unknown. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are planning to investigate the wreckage Monday or Tuesday, Smith said. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Collision Investigation Unit used laser technology to map out the crash site on Saturday.

“It appears he was trying to land on the road,” Smith said. “Why, we don’t know.”

Dave Marshall, 41, an employee at Penguin Windows on Cyrus Way, was unloading glass from a semi-truck with a co-worker when they heard a loud boom. Their building momentarily lost power, and then they heard another loud noise, like a power transformer exploding, Marshall said.

They each grabbed fire extinguishers and ran outside.

The airplane was right there, on its back, leaking fuel. The pilot, also upside down, appeared trapped inside. He was bleeding from the head with shards of glass stuck in his back.

Marshall, who lives in Everett, ran to get a first-aid kit. His co-worker, Jason Sutherland — who is nicknamed “Lucky” — pulled his shirt off and held it against a gash in the pilot’s head to slow the bleeding.

When Marshall came back, Sutherland replaced the T-shirt with a compress from the first-aid kit. Marshall began pulling the shards of glass out from the man’s back, to keep him from further injuring himself.

“We were asking him questions, asking him his name, just to keep him coherent,” Marshall said. “My main concern was one, for my co-worker, and two, for the pilot, to keep him from bleeding out.”

Paine Field firefighters were on the scene within minutes, after being alerted by the control tower that the plane had not made it. They worked with Everett firefighters to pull the pilot from the airplane.

“He figured he was going 100 mph when he hit the ground,” Everett Fire Department Battalion Chief Nick Walker said. “During the skidding, his plane flipped upside down and he was trapped.”

Tonja Gabryshak, a photographer who lives nearby, was taking her son to basketball practice when she came upon the crash site. Firefighters had not yet arrived on scene.

She instinctively grabbed her camera and rushed over to the downed aircraft. A man was on the ground next to the cockpit, and she could see the pilot inside. Gabryshak was worried. Her cousin, who flew F-18 fighter jets, died in a routine training flight in San Diego in 2000.

She was overwhelmed with relief when the man next to the plane told her the pilot would survive.

“I feel grateful,” Gabryshak said. “I had a phone call on the way out the door heading to my son’s basketball practice, and had I not taken that phone call, I may have been right there.”

After working at Penguin Windows for five years, Marshall said he’s always been nervous by how the airplanes fly close to the treetops as they descend toward Paine Field.

He can’t believe the pilot survived the crash.

“I think he’s very lucky,” Marshall said. “He might just get the new nickname.”

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.