08:45 AM PST on Wednesday, March 31, 2004

By kgw.com and AP Staff

SALEM -- Rain, dense woods and heavy snowpack is making it difficult for workers to recover the bodies of three people killed in a small plane crash near the summit of Three Fingered Jack in the Cascades.

An aerial photo of the plane crash wreckage, taken by a member of the search crew. (KGW Photo)

The Military Air Rescue Team with the Oregon Army National Guard said it would help in the recovery effort Wednesday, launching a Blackhawk Helicopter to reach the crash site from the air.

A ground crew did manage to get to the site using skis, but Linn County Sheriff Dave Burright said they turned back after it became apparent that snowmobiles carrying extrication equipment would not make it to the crash site before dusk Tuesday.

More than 45 workers have helped in the search and recovery effort since the wreckage of the Cessna 182 was spotted in the snow Monday.

“Due to the nature of the terrain and the conditions on the mountain it became necessary to assist in this manner to affect a successful and safe recovery,” said major Arnold Strong, a spokesperson for the military rescue team and Blackhawk crew.

“They will travel to Santiam Junction where they will undergo operational briefings and then transport members of the Sheriff's office to the crash site,” he added.

The helicopter crew plans to lower deputies, as well as guardsmen, to the crash site, where they will secure the victims into rescue baskets and hoist them back into the Blackhawk for transport back to Santiam Junction.

This operation is expected to take most of the day.

Crash victims were good friends from Salem Academy

Killed in the crash were pilot Brian Ditchen, 28, of Silverton and passengers Melissa Davidson, 24, of Portland and Trenton Taylor, 27, of Bend.

The three were headed from Bend to Sisters and were reported missing when the plane never arrived Sunday. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, Burright said.

Family and friends mourned the loss of the three Salem Academy graduates.

"We're just heartbroken," said Deleen Wills, development director for Salem Academy. "Everybody feels ... at a loss."

The three were popular during their years at Salem Academy; Davidson was named Homecoming Princess during her senior year, and Ditchen and Taylor were active in sports.

The two men remained friends after graduation, and Ditchen recently began dating Davidson, his brother Duane Ditchen said.

Davidson was living in Portland and working at a bank.

Ditchen and Taylor went on two church missions together, and Duane described his brother as the most giving person he knew.

"Instead of going to nice places on a vacation, he'd go on missions for the church and work his butt off," he said.

Ditchen also spent a good deal of time working with his brothers at the family's Silverton farm.

"Where I lacked in knowledge on the farm, he knew it," Duane said. "I would learn from him. ...Farming is hard work, but it never seemed like it when I was with him."

Brian Ditchen had been flying for about nine years, his brother said, and he kept his plane in a hangar at Salem's McNary Field airport.

Taylor's parents, Art and June Taylor, described the two men as "good, clean, hard working kids who didn't drink or smoke."

Taylor worked as a substitute teacher in middle and alternative schools in central Oregon, and he also led snowmobile tours and river rafting trips, his father said.

"The world lost a great person," Art Taylor said. "Three great people I'm sure. But we're all strong Christians so we know they are going to be OK. They are in a better place."