5/10/2005
Weather prevents aerial search for missing private airplane
BOISE - Inclement weather today prevented an air search for an overdue private airplane that was last reported near Kooskia about 70 miles east of Lewiston, the Idaho Transportation Department announced.
A single-engine Piper 180 aircraft with one occupant 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.
Search airplanes were unable to launch because of low cloud cover and rainstorms.
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.
The pilots name has not been released.