C-180 Dropped Off Radar Near Bozeman Tuesday

Aero-News has received word a Cessna 180F piloted by experienced mountain flier Sparky Imeson disappeared off radar Tuesday afternoon in the vicinity of Bozeman, MT, and that a search operation has been launched to located him.

The Helena Independent Record reports Imeson, author of several books on mountain flying, was at the controls of an aircraft that fell off radar at around 2:30 pm MDT Tuesday, over rugged terrain about 18 miles northwest of Bozeman. Snowstorms were reported around the area where the plane disappeared.

A cellular tower in the area picked up a signal from Imeson's phone shortly after the plane disappeared. "For the phone to receive that call, he'd have to be in that general location," said Mike Rogan, aviation support officer for the Montana Department of Transportation. "It was the closest tower. Someone tried to call him, but no one answered."

Crews are now searching on the east slope of the Elkhorn Mountains for the white plane with blue striping. Search and rescue crews from Malmstrom Air Force Base arrived on scene Wednesday to join in the search effort, began Tuesday evening by MDT's aeronautics division. A particular area of interest for search crews is a deep drainage ravine near Beaver Creek.

"We went out immediately and did a route search," said Jeanne MacPherson, the bureau chief coordinator for MDT. "We went to Bozeman, landed, and flew the route back," but crews could not find the missing aircraft.

"You're looking for an airplane that could be in the trees," said mechanic Ken Wilhelm, also with MDT. "It's all snow in here. You've got standing lodgepole trees. You've got downed trees. You've got short trees. Anything that looks straight on the ground, you look at it again, and you see two trees lying at 90 degrees."

Imeson (shown below, on the right) departed from Bozeman Tuesday afternoon. Officials aren't certain of his intended destination, though the radar track indicates Imeson planned to fly straight to Bozeman, on a path that would have taken him over the south end of the Big Belt Mountain Range.

As ANN reported, Imeson -- author of the "Mountain Flying Bible and Flight Operations Handbook" -- was injured in a mountain accident in 2007. He and another pilot, Jon C. Kantorowicz, were caught in a downdraft while flying over the Elkhorn range, that pushed their Aviat Husky into mountainous terrain.

Both men received relatively minor injuries in that accident.

FMI: www.mdt.mt.gov, www.montanapilots.org