June 19, 1998 The Missoulian: Crews shoo off grizzlies before removing bodies of Polson Bankers by Michael Jamison
KALISPELL Crews startled grizzly bears from an airplane crash site Wednesday before retrieving the remains of two Polson bankers who died in the wreckage.
The bears had consumed much of the bodies over the past couple months, Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont said.
The remains of Douglas Hanson, 48, and Robert Bowers, 42, will be sent to the state crime lab for positive DNA identification, Dupont said. The test results will be compared against tests of the men's parents' DNA.
Crews on the scene reported scaring off at least one grizzly as they approached late Wednesday, hearing huffing and crashing in the nearby brush.
"There was certainly. a significant amount of grizzly sign in the area", said Undersheriff. Chuck Curry.
Curry was among those who were ferried to the remote site by helicopter. Pilot David Hoerner landed on a large boulder about 400 yards from the crash scene. The short walk, however, turned into a long ordeal, as crews fought their way along the brushy cliff face for an hour and a half to reach the wreckage.
Curry estimated the slope was between 70 and 80 degrees, forcing rescuers to pick their way carefully across the rocky terrain.
The shattered plane has remained perched on the precarious outcropping since April 11, when it disappeared into the night. The crash site is located about three miles from the last known radar fix, between Hungry Horse Reservoir and the Flathead Valley.
Speculation continues as to why the plane dropped from its 12,000- foot cruising altitude, however no firm cause has been established. Many believe an electrical failure may have forced Hanson to shut down the Piper Malibu. Hanson, a veteran pilot who once flew for Frontier Airlines, was president of Polson's Security State Trust Bank. The father of four also owned a software company. His sole passenger, Bowers, was an executive at the bank.
Now that the bodies have been retrieved, Dupont said, work will begin to sling load the plane parts out of the wilderness via helicopter. The many pieces of aircraft, Curry said, are centered in an area less than 20 yards in diameter, indicating the Plane was likely intact until it hit the cliff face.
Representatives from insurance companies, aircraft manufacturers and government agencies will sift the wreckage for clues as to why the plane crashed.