Woman Killed When Truck Falls 180 Feet At Snoqualmie Pass -- Fatal Accident Is First On Nine-Year-Old Bridge

The accident many had been fearing for almost a decade occurred late Monday night or early yesterday on the Franklin Falls Bridge just west of the Snoqualmie Pass summit, resulting in a driver's death.

Sometime during the first snowfall of the year, a pickup went out of control on Interstate 90, struck a railing, then plunged 180 feet down a ravine.

The body of the driver, identified as Debbie Beddingfield, 38, of Maple Valley, was removed about 9:40 a.m. using a technique developed 10 years ago specifically to rescue people from the Franklin Falls Bridge area. The King County medical examiner's office would not confirm the identity pending notification of family.

Since the bridge was completed in 1981, there has been concern that a vehicle would plunge into the rocky ravine during stormy winter conditions. But State Patrol and Department of Transportation officials said vehicles could not easily go over the 3-foot-high railing and would instead be deflected back onto the road. Additionally, there is a steel cable about 2 feet above the railing.

The accident was the first on the bridge. The late-model truck landed about 150 feet north of Franklin Falls on the south fork of the Snoqualmie River. The truck was cracked in half.

The cause of the accident was not known, but it snowed during the night at the site of the accident near the Denny Creek area. Snow tires were required during the night from milepost 47 to milepost 53. The bridge is at milepost 51.

Bob Cernick, a 39-year-old Cle Elum man who has worked for the state transportation department in the area for about 15 years, was the first to report the accident. He was driving one of four snowplows that were sanding and plowing I-90 about 6:30 a.m.

``It was snowing real hard, and I noticed a steel cable (that runs two feet above the concrete railing) broken,'' said Cernick, explaining that traffic was heavy so the snow plows were unable to stop. ``It's not unusual to see damage, but this time it just didn't look right.''

The four plows turned onto the eastbound I-90 lanes at milepost 47, then began a second pass of the westbound lanes at the Franklin Falls Bridge. This time, Cernick stopped to get a closer look at the railing and cable.

``You could see the truck down there,'' said Cernick. ``It landed right side up. It was definitely smashed up. I could see debris, scattered wheels, tires.''

``Ninety-nine percent of the time the railing will deflect a vehicle,'' Cernick said.

The technique used to rescue the woman involved having an Issaquah Fire Department ladder truck swing its boom over the bridge railing. A basket carrying North Bend Fire Department firefighter Donn Hewes and State Patrol Detective Mike Cassidy was lowered to the crash scene.

About the same time, Department of Transportation avalanche personnel climbed down from I-90 to the scene.

``This plan was designed to get people out,'' said State Patrol Lt. Gary Trunkey. ``It's the first time we've tested it for real.''

Trunkey said the rescue technique was developed by the State Patrol, the state avalanche control rescue team, the North Bend Fire Department and King County Police.