Disappeared Tuesday In Mountainous Region

Volunteer aircraft from the Washington Air Search and Rescue and the local Civil Air Patrol squadron resumed their search Thursday morning for a Cessna 177B Cardinal that dropped off radar Tuesday near Chinook Pass, WA.

According to the state Aviation Division, the pilot, 53-year-old George Trupp of Snoqualmie, is the sole person on board.

Trupp's daughter told KOMO TV in Seattle he'd had his pilot's license for only six months and does have survival training.

Tom Peterson, the search and rescue coordinator said the pilot had reported no problem and there has been no signal from the plane's emergency locator transmitter.

Air Force radar data indicated the plane (similar to type shown above) was last seen in the area of Chinook Pass west of Yakima at noon on Tuesday. The last recorded altitude was 6,500 feet, headed for 7,000-foot mountain peaks. Volunteers are searching a 560-square-mile area around the pass east of Mount Rainier, Crystal Mountain and Bumping Lake.

The plane was a rental from Pro-Flight Aviation in Renton.

"It's very, very mountainous terrain, loaded with box canyons," said one of the search pilots. "Once you get in them you can't get out, it can be so windy the plane doesn't have enough power to climb out."

Several pilots said they ran into difficult wind conditions and tricky canyons.

"We just don't really know what happened," said Peterson. "We're trying to look at all aspects and possibilities and make sure we get him home as fast as we can."

King County's UH-1 rescue helicopters and ground teams from Yakima County Search and Rescue are also taking part in the search, according to the Associated Press.

FMI: www.wsdot.wa.gov/aviation