montanapilot
Well-Known Member
Crash ends pilot's life and dreams
Kai Hetschel of Vancouver, whose Cessna went down near Olympia, aspired to fly commercial planes
Monday, November 01, 2004
Neither her mother nor her brother can remember what exactly made Kai Hetschel decide to become a pilot. But they have no doubt about one thing: Kai loved to fly.
"That's all she ever talked about," said Lonnie Hetschel, Kai's older brother. "She was almost always at the airfield. If you were to call her cell phone, you could tell how much she loved flying -- she had this novel way of doing her message on her voice mail so it sounded like she was doing air traffic control."
On Sunday afternoon, the Hetschel family was coping with the news that Kai, 20, died early Saturday when her Cessna 172 went down in a forest west of Olympia. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Hetschel of Vancouver flew to Everett, Wash., on Friday to visit a cousin who is also a pilot, said Lonnie Hetschel, 23.
"She took him up flying, and he thought the conditions were bad. But she said she could handle it," said Lonnie, who had talked earlier with his cousin. "She had to work the next day, so she wanted to fly back late Friday evening."
Flying back from Everett on her way to Troutdale, Hetschel reported weather-related problems to air-traffic control. At 2 a.m. Saturday, the Thurston County sheriff's office got a call from the Federal Aviation Administration saying it lost communication and radar contact with the Cessna 172.
Hetschel's body was found Saturday morning in wreckage three miles southeast of Rock Candy Mountain in the Capitol Forest.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Friday at Pearson Air Museum, 1115 E. Fifth St., Vancouver. Call 360-694-7026 for information.
Hetschel and her brother and two older sisters grew up on the Oregon Coast between Lincoln City and Depoe Bay. While Hetschel attended Taft High School, she and her mother went through a difficult time. Hetschel moved to Vancouver to be near one of her sisters and graduated from Mountain View High School.
"Our relationship was really restored," Elaine Hetschel, 63, said Sunday, remembering her daughter as a strong-willed woman who regularly called her.
Kai Hetschel had been taking classes at Mt. Hood Community College and working at an Olive Garden restaurant in Vancouver to earn money to become a commercial pilot, her mother said. "She wanted to go on with her flying."
On Sunday, Elaine Hetschel kept thinking about a few months ago when her daughter took her up in a plane. "We flew from Newport to Depoe Bay and back to Newport," Hetschel said. "I can't remember the date now, but we went out over the ocean. It was such a beautiful day and such a beautiful flight."
I just met and talked to this girl last week at one of my groundschools.
Kai Hetschel of Vancouver, whose Cessna went down near Olympia, aspired to fly commercial planes
Monday, November 01, 2004
Neither her mother nor her brother can remember what exactly made Kai Hetschel decide to become a pilot. But they have no doubt about one thing: Kai loved to fly.
"That's all she ever talked about," said Lonnie Hetschel, Kai's older brother. "She was almost always at the airfield. If you were to call her cell phone, you could tell how much she loved flying -- she had this novel way of doing her message on her voice mail so it sounded like she was doing air traffic control."
On Sunday afternoon, the Hetschel family was coping with the news that Kai, 20, died early Saturday when her Cessna 172 went down in a forest west of Olympia. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Hetschel of Vancouver flew to Everett, Wash., on Friday to visit a cousin who is also a pilot, said Lonnie Hetschel, 23.
"She took him up flying, and he thought the conditions were bad. But she said she could handle it," said Lonnie, who had talked earlier with his cousin. "She had to work the next day, so she wanted to fly back late Friday evening."
Flying back from Everett on her way to Troutdale, Hetschel reported weather-related problems to air-traffic control. At 2 a.m. Saturday, the Thurston County sheriff's office got a call from the Federal Aviation Administration saying it lost communication and radar contact with the Cessna 172.
Hetschel's body was found Saturday morning in wreckage three miles southeast of Rock Candy Mountain in the Capitol Forest.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Friday at Pearson Air Museum, 1115 E. Fifth St., Vancouver. Call 360-694-7026 for information.
Hetschel and her brother and two older sisters grew up on the Oregon Coast between Lincoln City and Depoe Bay. While Hetschel attended Taft High School, she and her mother went through a difficult time. Hetschel moved to Vancouver to be near one of her sisters and graduated from Mountain View High School.
"Our relationship was really restored," Elaine Hetschel, 63, said Sunday, remembering her daughter as a strong-willed woman who regularly called her.
Kai Hetschel had been taking classes at Mt. Hood Community College and working at an Olive Garden restaurant in Vancouver to earn money to become a commercial pilot, her mother said. "She wanted to go on with her flying."
On Sunday, Elaine Hetschel kept thinking about a few months ago when her daughter took her up in a plane. "We flew from Newport to Depoe Bay and back to Newport," Hetschel said. "I can't remember the date now, but we went out over the ocean. It was such a beautiful day and such a beautiful flight."
I just met and talked to this girl last week at one of my groundschools.
