Search has been suspended for reported downed aircraft in Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky

HINDMAN, Ky. (WYMT) - UPDATE: 6 p.m. 
 
First responders in Knott County have called off their search that started when someone reported a plane crash.

Law enforcement officers and firefighters searched for several hours by ground and air this afternoon near the Mallie community, but found no wreckage or debris.

They told WYMT they now have evidence that a plane never went down.

Witnesses reported the crash about 11:00 Wednesday morning after seeing a plane flying uncharacteristically low, but authorities believe that plane never crashed and even though they spent most of the day on what was basically a wild goose chase, they were happy to end the search knowing that nobody was hurt.

The mountain ridge near Highway 8-99 is the area search crews combed by ground and by air, as a DEA helicopter that happened to be in the area on marijuana eradication joined the hunt.

Authorities say they can usually locate a plane by tracking the signal from its Electronic Location Transmitter, but no such signal was picked up here.

Hindman Volunteer Fire Department Chief Preston Hays said, "What that’s saying is there’s no evidence, there’s nothing being reported electronically that any aircraft in the area went down or is missing".

Knott County Sheriff Dale Richardson interviewed the two people who reported the crash and neither of them actually saw the plane hit the ground.

Richardson said, "They said the plane was flying very low and it didn’t appear it was flying correctly. It might have been weaving and wobbling a little bit and it was down below the tree tops".

The sheriff said the folks who called the crash in won’t face charges related to falsely reporting an incident. He does not believe they were trying to pull off a hoax.

Power was out in area, but it was unrelated. A tree had damaged power lines.

Original Story:

First responders in Knott County are trying to figure out what led to reports of a plane crash Wednesday.

Knott County Sheriff Dale Richardson tells WYMT someone reported an aircraft going down around 11:00 a.m. this morning near Highway 899 in the Mallie community, but an extensive search of the area turned up no wreckage or debris. The search has officially been suspended.

Local law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMS responded when the call came in of a possible plane crash, but they looked for several hours and could not find any evidence of that.

Officials enlisted the help of a nearby DEA helicopter that was in the area in marijuana eradication, but the search from the air came up empty. Witnesses told the sheriff they saw a white plane with red wings flying really low and close to the mountain, but didn't actually see it crash.

The sheriff says no charges will be filed for falsely reporting an incident. He also says no emergency transmissions are being emitted that would indicate a plane has crashed.

There were a couple power outages in the area around the same time but those were unrelated.

Story and video: http://www.wkyt.com