ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Air National Guard searchers found a missing plane with two people aboard Tuesday morning safely landed but inoperable about 185 miles southeast of Anchorage.
According to ANG spokesperson Kalei Rupp, the Maule M-4 aircraft was reported overdue to the 11th Rescue Coordination Center by the Federal Aviation Administration shortly after 10 p.m. Monday.
No emergency locator transmitter signal was picked up, and the FAA conducted ramp checks at airports along the aircraft’s flight plan from Yakutat to Anchorage via Cordova to see if it had landed. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard launched a Cordova-based helicopter to begin a coastline search at about 3 a.m. and the ANG launched an HC-130 Hercules at about 8 a.m.
Rupp says the plane was found on Cape Yakataga, halfway between Yakutat and Cordova, later Tuesday morning.
“The HC-130 was able to pick up an ELT signal and visually locate the aircraft on Cape Yakataga around 10:30 this morning,” said RCC coordinator Tech. Sgt. Gail Paculba. “The HC-130 dropped a radio to the people on the ground who reported some sort of maintenance problems, which is what prompted the pilot to do a precautionary landing at that location.”
