Wreckage Of B1900 Spotted In Water

Coast Guard crews continued their search Tuesday for the pilot of a Beech 1900 turboprop that went down in the ocean early Monday near Kauai, HI -- but high winds and rough seas continued to make that search difficult.

The Associated Press reports the twin-engine commuter plane, owned by Alpine Air, took off from Honolulu at 0445 Monday morning, bound for Lihue with 4,200 lbs of mail onboard.

No distress call was received before the plane crashed, according to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor, and weather does not appear to have been a factor.

Boaters from Coast Guard Station Kauai located wreckage from the plane four hours after radar last picked up the aircraft, said Kevin Conroy, a search and rescue controller with the Coast Guard's Joint Rescue Coordination Center.

"We have narrowed down the search area to a compact debris field and will work as quickly as possible," Conroy said. Radar returns indicate the plane dropped 2,200 feet in a matter of seconds.

Rescuers have located a piece of the plane's cabin door, as well as a part of the aircraft's nose and a shoe. They've also found a liferaft, though it's unclear whether it had been inflated.

Alpine Air did not release the missing pilot's identity, reports KGMB-9, saying only he was an experienced surfer who is used to being in the ocean.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 410UB        Make/Model: B190      Description: 1900 (C-12J)
  Date: 01/14/2008     Time: 1508

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: LIHUE   State: HI   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  N410UB, AN ALPINE AIR BEECH 1900C AIRCRAFT, CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN
  CIRCUMSTANCES INTO THE OCEAN WHILE ON VISUAL APPROACH, THE ONE PERSON ON
  BOARD IS MISSING AND ASSUMED FATAL,  7 MILES SOUTH OF LIHUE, HI

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   1
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   0
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: 1453Z 03023G27 10SM SCT041 OVC055 20/13 A3013

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Approach      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: HONOLULU, HI  (WP13)                  Entry date: 01/15/2008

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.alpine-air.com, www.uscg.mil