Search Begins After Small Plane Disappears En Route to Stockton

A search was launched Sunday several miles west of Mt. Whitney in Inyo County for a single-engine plane that disappeared during a flight from Redlands to the Stockton area, officials said.

The search, led by volunteer members of the Civil Air Patrol, began after daybreak when the pilot failed to arrive as scheduled at Columbia Airport east of Stockton on Saturday afternoon, said Lt. Col. Frank Burnham, a patrol spokesman.

The 47-year-old pilot from San Bernardino, whose identity was not released, received a weather briefing but failed to file a flight plan when he took off from Redlands in San Bernardino County about noon Saturday.

At various times Saturday, the small plane was picked up on radar by air controllers at Edwards Air Force Base, Oakland, Palmdale and Los Angeles International Airport.

“He was alone, except he had his dog with him,” Burnham said. “The pilot has about seven years (of flying) experience.”

Burnham said the four-seat Cessna Hawkeye was equipped with emergency signal beacons. A weak signal that may have come from a downed aircraft was briefly picked up by two Civil Air Patrol planes from Bishop flying over the search area.

“It is an area with 13,000- to 14,000-foot peaks,” Burnham said. “The plane was seen on radar, but it disappeared below radar level.”

Two Air Force F-16s were dispatched from Fresno to fly over the area at 23,000 and 16,400 feet. The lower flying jet reported a solid cloud cover, severe turbulence and icing in the search area, Burnham said.

The U.S. Forest Service dispatched ground crews to the area late Sunday, but a ground search was not expected to begin until dawn.

Civil Air Patrol helicopters were to join the search early Monday, Burnham said.

“We expect the weather will be better (Monday),” he said. “One problem is that there will be two to three feet of new snow covering the area.”