Getting Out Alive: The Autumn Veatch Story Read online

  Getting Out Alive

  The Autumn Veatch Story

  Written by

  TARA ELLIS

  As told by

  AUTUMN VEATCH

  Photograph copyrights for:

  Image 1. Autumn Veatch, 2. Chelsey Clark, 3. Chelsey Clark, 4.Sara Esperance

  ISBN-13: 978-1523399918

  ISBN-10: 1523399910

  Copyright © 2015 Autumn Veatch

  2nd Edition January 2016

  Cover art design Copyright © 2016 Agape Author Services

  All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Tara Ellis Publications

  2015

  Find all of Tara’s titles here!

  http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Ellis/e/B00IVF1JQK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Preface

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  Authors note:

  PICTURES

  Getting Out Alive

  -The Autumn Veatch Story

  Preface

  This is a true account of the fatal plane crash that occurred on July 11, 2015, in the Northern Cascade Mountains in Washington State. Autumn Veatch was the only survivor. This is her story, as told by her to author Tara Ellis. It has been written and published with her consent and parental approval.

  1.This is a self portrait Autumn took that day and sent to a friend, not long before the crash.

  1

  Saturday, July 11th, 2015

  Approx. 3:20 pm, PST

  Sixteen-year-old Autumn Veatch gripped the back of the seat in front of her as the small plane bounced in the turbulence. It was the first time she’d ever been on a small plane, and only her second time flying. Although Autumn hadn’t been afraid when she and her grandparents left Kalispell, Montana, a few hours earlier, she was quickly changing her mind.

  As the plane settled back into its loud, endless drone, she pried her hands away from where they were clutching the cushion, near her grandfather’s shoulders. He was positioned in the pilot’s seat, and he turned to smile crookedly at her as she fumbled around, trying to find her phone. The gesture did little to calm her nerves, but she did her best to look composed as she tapped the screen on her phone.

  If I die, remember that I love you! She quickly typed, smiling slightly as she sent it to her boyfriend, Newton. Yeah, it was a bit dramatic, but she knew he’d laugh at it. That was the kind of friendship they had, full of wit and sarcasm. She wouldn’t want it any other way.

  “Are you okay, Autumn?” Looking up at her grandma, Autumn nodded in response. The voice-activated headset she was wearing was a pain to use. With just enough of a delay that it caused them to talk over each other, it made communicating frustrating, so she’d been quiet for most of the trip. It was actually entertaining to listen to the relentless, playful banter between her step-grandparents. That past week, Autumn had gotten to know them pretty well, and she’d been surprised they were so fun to be around. It had been about four years since her mom had married their son, but this trip was the most time she’d ever spent with them.

  While the nearly unbearable Montana heat wasn’t so horrible in comparison to the constant rain at her home in Bellingham, Washington, she was eager to get back. Newton and his mom were picking her up at the small airport and she couldn’t wait to be reunited with her friends. Looking down at the response to her last text, Autumn laughed and tried to forget the tense situation that she was in.

  Cloudy weather had delayed their departure that morning until the afternoon, and it was continuing to get worse the closer they got to home. As they flew into the most rugged part of the Northern Cascade Mountains, they lost sight of Hwy 20, the road they were using for navigation.

  Now, it was close to 3:30 pm, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that her grandfather wasn’t sure where they were. All Autumn could see out the windows were white clouds, and she didn’t know where the looming mountains were…hopefully below them.

  A sudden jerking motion to the right caused her to gasp and look up just in time to see a tree-shrouded cliff disappear behind them! They had almost run straight into it. As her grandparents tried to laugh it off, Autumn fought down her rising panic and turned to her phone, her lifeline, for comfort. However, she saw the undeniable circle with an X through it and groaned at the timing. How could she lose service now?

  Remembering that her grandma was using her tablet’s GPS to help guide them, Autumn wondered if they were totally blind. The thought wasn’t reassuring.

  “It turned off!” Sharon Bowman cried while frantically pushing at the device. The joking between the older couple just moments ago forgotten, Leland looked at his wife in disbelief.

  “You turned it off?” His voice was muffled through her headset, but Autumn’s anxiety was intensified. His concern was palpable. They were in real trouble.

  “It wasn’t on purpose!” Sharon answered, sounding desperate.

  “I can’t see a thing,” Leland mumbled. “I’m going to try and get below this cloud bank.”

  Her knuckles turning white, Autumn did the only thing she could think of. Making sure her seatbelt was secured, she then seized the back of the pilot seat again, this time putting her head between her knees. She suffered from anxiety on a good day, and this was far from being a good day. Eyes squeezed shut, she told herself that they had everything under control and that she was worrying over nothing.

  “We’re getting too low!” her grandpa shouted. His voice was thick with fear, causing Autumn to suffer a fresh wave of apprehension. “We’ll have to go above it instead.” His voiced echoed through the headset, sounding farther away as Autumn’s pulse pounded in her head, muffling her hearing.

  The sudden change in altitude made Autumn’s stomach drop, and she swallowed against the bile threatening to rise.

  This can’t be happening! She thought numbly, willing the plane to climb faster. They had to climb faster, they had to –

  Her mantra was interrupted by an earsplitting sound that her mind couldn’t place. At the same time, trees replaced the white outside the windows. As if in slow motion, one of the wings broke off, and they continued to plummet through the surreal forest, their forward motion slowing with each new assault to the body of the plane.

  Autumn watched in shock as first her phone and then her backpack slid almost gently from her lap and disappeared. Everything roared around her as the headset flew off, and then finally…the nightmare ended.

  Or so she thought.

  2

  Saturday, July 11th, 2015

  Approx. 3:30 pm, PST

  Fire.

  Fire rushed towards her from the front of the plane, and the heat was already agonizing. Pushing at the seatbelt, Autumn struggled to get it off. It wouldn’t open.

  “No, no, no!” she sobbed, clawing at it blindly, her eyes burning from the heat and smoke. Instinct finally took over and she stopped panicking.

  Move, or die.

  Pushing up in the seat, she slid her legs out of the belt, thankful that it was loose enough for the maneuver. Straining to see, she turned away from the flames, scrambling over wreckage through the only available route and somehow managing to get outside.

  Finding herself standing beside the plane, on the same side she had been sitting, she turned towards the opening where her grandpa was still strapped in the seat. He was alive, but badly hurt. Fire surrounded him and she could see her grandma in the seat on the other side. She was screaming, and all Autumn could think was that she had to pull Leland out before she could get to Sharon.

  Reaching through the opening, she grabbed at his hands, arms, anything she could get a grip on. Pulling with all of her strength, it had no effect.

  “You have to get out!” Autumn screamed, her voice hoarse and barely recognizable. “Take the seatbelt off!” Reaching again for him, she was aware of her right hand burning, and her face was hot from the nearby flames licking around the cockpit.

  He was mumbling, moaning, but Autumn couldn’t make out what he was saying. Sharon’s screams took on a new pitch, and then stopped altogether. The fire had consumed her, and knowing that her grandfather was next, she tugged at him even harder, ignoring her own pain.

  This can’t be happening. It can’t be real. None of this is real, Autumn thought, trying to convince herself.

  But the nightmare unfolding around her couldn’t be denied, and the man she’d come to love and respect stopped moving under her hands. When the smell of her own charred flesh and singed hair broke through her shock, Autumn was finally compelled to move away from the wreckage, the heat physically pushing her back.

  Staring in horror at the raging inferno, the whole plane now engulfed, Autumn stumbled over the unforgiving terrain, shaking her head angrily.

  “No!” She yelled, the enormity of what just happened beginning to sink in. “No!” Spinning around, all she could think about was getting away from the hell she’d been thrown into.

  Sobbing, blinded by her tears, Autumn plunged through the alien landscape. Branches scraped at her arms and legs, and she fell over countless rocks and logs as the ground dropped away at a steep pitch.

  “Why did that
have to happen to them?” The words were ripped from her throat and echoed back at her. “Why! Why did they have to die!” It wasn’t a question, but an accusation. Autumn knew she sounded crazy, but she couldn’t stop, and continued to scream uncontrollably. Her words began to run together until she wasn’t making any sense, but fear drove her forward. She knew she had to keep moving if she wanted to stay alive.

  Her descent rapidly increased until she was forced to reach out and grab at a tree to stop her forward motion. Placing her forehead against the cool bark, Autumn listened to the rapid thumping of her heart. Crinkling her nose at the foul scent of her hand, her heartrate surged faster at the evidence of what she was fleeing.

  “It’s not far enough,” she whispered at the tree, not expecting an answer. Looking over her shoulder, eyes wide, Autumn touched the scorched edges of her hair with her good left hand, and the cold emptiness of terror threatened to overwhelm her. She had to get away.

  Pushing back from the cedar, she continued her flight.

  The mountains were timeless. After listening to the pounding of her feet and own raspy breath for what felt like forever, Autumn had no idea how long she’d been running. The shadows were lengthening, and the silence of the woods finally wrapped around her when she stopped again. The sounds of the fire that had been chasing her were gone and she could finally take a deep, shuddering breath.

  The ground and all of the underbrush were wet. Even the air was damp, and she could feel the chill of the coming evening seeping in through her soggy clothes. Autumn knew that it couldn’t be much later than four in the afternoon, but her limited outdoor experience made her aware that night came early in the mountains. What if she had to spend the night out there? How was she supposed to stay warm?

  Wait!

  Tilting her head to the side, much like a bird that is startled, she strained to hear a faint sound. Forcing herself to slow her breathing, she tried to concentrate.

  There! It sounds like the freeway!

  Her adrenaline once again surging, Autumn sprinted recklessly towards her possible salvation. Ignoring the steepening landscape, she slid down the muddy hillside, any rational thought gone for the moment. The journey came to an abrupt end when the ground disappeared beneath her, and she was suddenly nearly free falling down a cliff!

  Landing hard on her backside, she put her hands and feet out to slow her descent. The pain of rocks slicing through her burns barely registered, and a part of her observed that she was almost numb to the ongoing agony.

  Reaching the bottom of the ravine, Autumn discovered the source of what she thought was freeway noise: a small river. Screaming in frustration, she tried hard to fight back fresh tears.

  Now what?

  Looking around at her seemingly hopeless situation, Autumn recalled the survivalist shows she was forced to watch with her father.

  “Follow the water downstream,” she said aloud, her voice harsh. “It might ultimately lead to civilization.” Staring at the water, she stood still in spite of her own encouraging words to move. It was flowing peacefully around her feet, and she wished it could wash away the terror that she knew was waiting to pounce. That…and panic. Plagued daily with anxiety, it was a constant battle for control.

  Her feet were cold. Without really thinking about it, she began to trudge across to the other side, where there was enough room along the edge to walk on dry ground. Although she was feeling the first tug of thirst, she resisted the urge. One of the other lessons she learned from those TV shows, was that even though it looked like clean mountain water, it could be contaminated with microscopic organisms that would make her sick. Without a way to start a fire to boil it, drinking it was a risk. She decided to only drink it when she got really thirsty. She’d be okay for a day.

  After going just a couple hundred feet, Autumn was forced by rock outcroppings to cross back over to the other side. Although it hardly classified as a river, the water was deep enough, and the rocks slick enough, to pose a challenging obstacle course for the already battered teen. Her multiple burns, scratches, bruises, and abrasions were starting to hurt as the adrenaline wore off, making the journey even more difficult.

  The terrain didn’t relent, offering her no other choice than to continuously switch back and forth. She used fallen trees as bridges when possible, carefully picking her way through the branches that were still attached. When those weren’t available, she tried to balance on the tops of the larger, exposed rocks, which resulted in multiple falls and several instances of being swept away briefly in the freezing cold water.

  This went on for the rest of the long afternoon, until the setting sun and encroaching darkness forced Autumn out of her drone-like state. Looking up at the steep banks, she knew she needed to find a safe place to sleep. That wasn’t possible down there in the water.

  Her body aching beyond anything she’d ever experienced, Autumn scrambled painfully up the loose rocks and dirt. After backsliding a number of times, she finally reached the top, and then used the branches and underbrush to help pull her up to a flatter surface.

  She eventually staggered into a small clearing, where the ground was littered with pine needles. It was likely the best spot she was going to find, and it was getting dark fast.

  I have to get out of these wet clothes.

  Drawing again from her meager survival knowledge, she stripped down to her underwear and tank top. Hanging the sopping clothes over nearby branches, she then wandered somewhat aimlessly, unsure of what to do next. Everything in those woods seemed wet. Even if she knew how to start a fire from scratch, there was no way she could find enough dry kindling to try it.

  Now that she’d stopped moving, the aching in her joints intensified. The smallest of motions took an enormous amount of willpower and all Autumn wanted to do was sleep. To stop thinking and feeling. But it was so cold. Although they’d had record highs in that area over the past week, the temperature dropped about twenty degrees that weekend. It was probably still close to eighty that day at the lower elevations, but up there, she guessed it might be around fifty that night. After being in frigid water for hours, her clothes wet, and no way to warm up, hypothermia was a real concern.

  Going to her clothes, she slowly picked up her brown cardigan. It was her favorite, and that small, familiar token brought her some comfort. Squeezing out as much water as she could, she then pulled it gingerly over her head, every burn screaming at the assault.

  Circling the clearing, much like a dog in his kennel, she randomly picked out a spot and sat against a tree. Drawing her knees to her chest, she pulled the thick cardigan down over them as far as it would go, lowered her head, and breathed warm air into the small cocoon she’d created.

  Now that she was away from the river, the silence returned, enveloping her. It made her feel like a prisoner in her own mind, held in place by the empty air that had its own weight, pressing against her. It created too much opportunity to think. Unable to bear the prospect of a whole night alone out there in the dark woods, Autumn did the only thing she could think of to fill the void: sing.

  She started with ‘Sing Along,’ by Karen O. The rhythmic, soothing melody instantly helped to calm her racing mind. As the night took over and darkness pressed in, she moved on to other familiar tunes. Crying and shivering, she prayed for the comforting bliss of a dreamless sleep.

  3

  Sunday, July 12, 2015

  Time unknown

  Something was moving nearby. The odd rustling sounds broke through Autumn’s thin veil of sleep and she caught her breath, not daring to move. Was it a bear? A mountain lion?

  Cautiously, she raised her head and was greeted with a dark so complete that she couldn’t even see her knees that were just inches below her chin. Fear paralyzed her. Nighttime was always a challenge at home, and she would often call someone to talk with to help her fall asleep. This was literally one of her worst nightmares.