MCKINLEYVILLE, Calif. – Personnel from Coast Guard Group Humboldt Bay and the Humboldt Bay Sheriff’s office continue to search for an aircraft that went missing late Sunday night just northwest of Arcata Airport.
Coast Guard assets, including an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter, a 47′ Motor Life Boat, and ground personnel have scoured the area of the aircraft’s last known position. The missing aircraft was last seen on radar approximately 1 mile northwest of Trinidad Head and was about 100 feet above the ocean waters. The aircraft type is a DA40 with a tail number of N521DS and was being flown from Bakersfield to Arcata. The aircraft had two people on board, Vladislav Milushev and Rick Gustafson.
The Coast Guard received notification of the missing aircraft at 11:30 a.m. today. The rescue helicopter from Air Station Humboldt Bay arrived in the area of the last known position by about 11:50 a.m., while the motor life boat arrived on scene at approximately 1:30 p.m. to assist in the search. The officers from the sheriff’s office conducted ground searches throughout the area and gathered amplifying information to narrow the search area.
Search efforts will resume at dawn this morning. The Coast Guard and Humboldt Bay Sheriff’s have searched an area of approximately 240 square miles.
