ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Coast Guard suspended its search at 4 p.m. today, for pilot Randy Crawford who disappeared Tuesday after his plane was downed in Cook Inlet. Crawford was on a flight from Kenai to Kokhanok.
The Cessna 207 airplane contacted the Kenai Flight Service Station reporting engine problems. Shortly after the report the station lost contact with Crawford. A search including personnel and aircraft from the Coast Guard, Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Air National Guard and an oil service company helicopter ensued. The plane was located using its automated ELT signal and the 188-foot Good Samaritan tanker support vessel Seabulk Nevada recovered the largely intact Cessna 207. Crawford was not inside.
The search consisted of 32 search hours covering a 384 square mile area. A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Kodiak and an Alaska State Trooper helicopter saturated the search area today and found nothing.
“Suspending a case is never easy,” Cmdr. Scott Pollock, Chief Coast Guard D17 Incident Management Branch. ” However, we gave a maximum effort using Coast Guard, National Guard and Alaska State Trooper aviation assets.”
The Alaska State Troopers plan to continue the search Thursday with a helicopter as weather permits.
Source: USCG D17 Public Affairs
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