5/11/2005
Search continues for missing airplane
BOISE - The search for a missing pilot and private airplane will continue today, the Idaho Transportation Department announced. Paul C. Herr of Pasco, Wash. is the registered pilot of the single-engine Piper 180 aircraft.
Air and ground crews will search for the airplane in the area of the confluence of the Lochsa and Selway rivers.
Inclement weather yesterday prevented an air search for the plane. Search airplanes were unable to launch because of low cloud cover and rainstorms.
The airplane left Jackson, Wyo., for Lewiston Monday afternoon. At about 4 p.m., the pilot reported engine trouble and then engine failure to air traffic controllers in Seattle. The pilot was directed to fly toward an airstrip in Kooskia 20 miles away. A few minutes later, both radio and radar contact with the pilot was lost.
The Idaho Transportation Departments Division of Aeronautics is coordinating aerial search efforts in cooperation with the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center in Langley, Va., and the Idaho Civil Air Patrol.