NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard is searching for a 50-year-old man who reportedly lost communications at approximately 9,900 feet after departing St. Petersburg, Fl., Tuesday, in a single engine airplane.
The Coast Guard received a call from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at approximately 4 p.m. Thursday reporting that Mark Nichter, a 50-year-old pilot lost radio communications Tuesday, approximately 140 miles southwest of St. Petersburg, Fl.
Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., launched an HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane and crew and are conducting a search. An Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) was also issued to mariners as a caution in the area.
