2 Die In Crash Of Small Plane In Oregon

Two people died Saturday when their small plane crashed and burned in the Deschutes National Forest, south of Bend.

Their names were not immediately available. The plane was on its way from McMinnville to the Bend area when it went down about 12:30 p.m.

It took rescuers about an hour to reach the dense section of forest where the plane went down, Bend Fire Battalion Chief Mike Cooley said.

Golfers and residents reported the crash, giving a vague series of directions.

An Airlife of Oregon plane finally guided rescuers to the site, giving directions from above.

“There’s thousands of square miles of forest out there. No way we would just find it at random,” Cooley said. “I don’t know when we would have found the thing if it weren’t for them.”

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