Oregon CAP Helps Locate Missing Aircraft

Debris from the plane was spotted in a ravine in the Owyhee Mountains area.

Salem-New.com

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Barely 24 hours after concluding a successful weekend long USAF evaluated training mission this past weekend, the Oregon CAP was called upon by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center to assist in the search for a missing aircraft in SE Oregon.

Two Oregon CAP aircraft, each with a 3 person aircrew, from Bend and Brookings, Oregon, were dispatched to assist in the search. The aircraft a Navion, 4-passenger, low wing aircraft with three people on board, had departed from Jerome, ID on Friday and was bound for a fishing trip in Ilwaco, Washington. The flight plan had them returning to Idaho on Sunday. The CAP says a concerned family member alerted authorities after the aircraft became overdue.

Lt. Bill Johnson with the Idaho Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, which was also involved in the search and whose aircraft spotted the wreckage of the plane Monday afternoon, says debris from the plane was spotted in a ravine in the Owyhee Mountains area.

This is about 16 miles south of Homedale, in a very remote area southeast of Succor Creek State Park, located about five miles west of the Idaho-Oregon border. There were no survivors. The recovery effort has been turned over to the Malheur County Sheriff Office since the crash site was actually found in Oregon. The investigation and wreckage is now under the control of the FAA and NTSB which will try to determine the cause of the crash.