3/9/2011
Two state search launched for missing aircraft
BOISE - Civil Air Patrol planes from Idaho and Nevada began a search this morning for an overdue aircraft that was reported missing Tuesday night.
The missing airplane left Wendover, Utah, at approximately 4 p.m. Tuesday and was en route to Idaho Falls. It was expected to arrive at 5 p.m., and was reported overdue at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday by a friend awaiting its arrival in Idaho Falls.
The registered owner of the aircraft is longtime eastern Idaho pilot and farmer Danny Joe Summers, 55, of Sugar City. He is believed to be the pilot. One female is reportedly on board.
The missing aircraft is an A-1 Skyraider (Douglas Aircraft), a modified military plane that flew in Southeast Asia from the 1950s to 1970s. Originally the aircraft had two seats, but additional seats may have been added to the plane.
Searchers are concentrating on a 50-square-mile about 35 miles south of Twin Falls near the Idaho/Nevada border, approximately 18 miles east of Jackpot, Nev. The pilot did not file a flight plan, and no ELT (electronic locator transmitter) signal has been received.
The search area is rugged with a number of ridges and several peaks of 8,000 feet. Light rain was reported in the area Tuesday evening with scattered to broken clouds between 2,000 and 6,000 feet.