WSDOT crews confirm fatal crash of Piper Cub in Okanogan County
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) search teams located the wreckage of a missing 1976 Piper Cub aircraft in Aeneas Valley near Tonasket, Okanogan County, on Sunday, October 11, 2026. The plane, carrying pilot Nicholas Granchanin and passenger Jim Merick, had lost communication with Seattle Center air traffic control while traveling from Penticton, British Columbia, to Grangeville, Idaho. Both occupants were found deceased. WSDOT coordinated aerial and ground searches using cell phone forensics and radar data, with assistance from the Colville Confederated Tribes. No distress signals were received prior to the discovery.