Cessna 182: Search continues for missing aircraft in central Idaho

Posted: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 4:51 pm

Idaho Transportation Department press release

STANLEY – Air and ground searches continued today for a Cessna 182 aircraft that disappeared from radar before midnight Monday in the eastern foothills of central Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.

The airplane left Salmon at about 10:30 Monday night and was expected to arrive at the Caldwell airport – a distance of about 175 miles – around midnight.

Radar tracking indicated the airplane lost altitude and descended rapidly in an area about two miles west of Stanley. The terrain varies from open and brush-covered to heavily forested mountain slopes. Evening storms had cleared, and skies were clear at the time of departure.

The Idaho Transportation Department’s Division of Aeronautics began coordinating an air search early today. Two Civil Air Patrol planes and an ITD plane started searching the area west of Stanley. An Idaho National Guard helicopter was dispatched around noon and was relieved by a three-person U.S. Forest Service helicopter team at about 1:30 p.m.

If they are unsuccessful in locating the missing plane, aircraft will be dispatched Wednesday to fly grid patterns from the initial search point.

The Custer County sheriff responded to a call late Monday night from the occupant of a cabin near Stanley who reported hearing an “aircraft in distress.” Custer County deputies began searching the heavily forested area at daybreak today. Ground search and rescue teams joined the effort this afternoon.

All search activities will be suspended at the onset of darkness this evening.

The missing plane is a single-engine, 1965 Cessna with a normal seating capacity of four and is capable of flying at night. It is registered to a Caldwell pilot. Names of the pilot and passenger have not been released, and their status remains unknown.

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