Three killed in plane crash on Three Fingered Jack

Three people were killed when their four-seat Cessna 182 aircraft crashed on Sunday, March 28, on the slopes of Three Fingered Jack.

According to the Linn County Sheriff's Office, Brian Scott Dittchen, 28, of Silverton, Melissa Ann Davidson, 24, of Salem and Trenton Amos Taylor, 27, of Bend, were on a flight-seeing trip over the area burned in the B&B Complex Fire last summer when their plane went down.

Civil Air Patrol was activated on Monday when Dittchen did not show up for work, the sheriff's office reported.

Air patrol spotted the plane about 1/2 mile southwest of the summit of Three Fingered Jack. Elements of the 1042 Oregon Air National Guard responded and one rescuer was dispatched to the site of the crash, where he determined that all three occupants of the plane were dead.

A recovery mission involving Jefferson County Search and Rescue was launched from Santiam Sno-Park on Tuesday. The park was closed to the public during the operation.

According to the Linn County Sheriff's Office, the plane made contact with the Bend Airport and may have taken off from there enroute to Salem.

Dittchen and Davidson reportedly flew from Salem to Bend to pick up Taylor for the flight-seeing tour.

The three were high school friends who attended Salem Academy High School together.

Sunday's weather was clear but cold and windy.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.