OKANOGAN, Wash. — Search crews were in the air Sunday looking for a missing small plane last reported near U.S. Highway 97 in Okanogan County.
The Washington State Department of Transportation said its Air Search and Rescue unit was notified Saturday evening about a missing 1976 Piper Cub aircraft.
WSDOT said the pilot and a passenger left Penticton, British Columbia, headed for Grangeville, Idaho, and lost communication with Seattle Center air traffic control.
WSDOT said the pilot’s daughter later contacted the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office to report the aircraft and its occupants missing.
Air Search and Rescue teams began searching the plane’s last known radar locations between Oroville and Okanogan, using cell phone forensics to help identify potential search areas. The agency also contacted additional ground search resources from the Colville Confederated Tribes to assist.
WSDOT said no distress signals were received overnight.
Air Search and Rescue operations are set to continue through Sunday with favorable weather conditions, and an aircraft would follow helicopter flights through the search area.
Anyone who thinks they saw or heard the plane Saturday night, or spotted anything in the area, is asked to call the State Emergency Operations Center at 800-258-5990 with details. WSDOT said search officials do not need volunteers to conduct air or land searches at this time.
WSDOT said it is charged by statute, RCW 47.68.380, with coordinating and managing aerial search and rescue within the state, working with volunteer search and rescue groups, law enforcement and other agencies, including the U.S. Navy.