Intensive Search On For Missing Wyoming Pilot And Plane Near Rock Springs

Sweetwater County authorities are searching for a plane that left an airport outside Rock Springs, Wyoming, on Tuesday morning and never landed in California as planned, the local sheriff’s office says.

A caller contacted the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office at 1:22 p.m. Tuesday to report a pilot missing, according to a statement released that evening by sheriff’s office spokesman Jason Mower.  

The plane, a Piper Comanche, left the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport but failed to make its scheduled destination in California, Mower added. The lone occupant is a male pilot in his 50s from Green River, Wyoming.

The report prompted an “intensive” search and rescue effort through the afternoon and into the night, based on sheriff’s agents’ investigations and on automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast data (ADS-B). Both ground and aerial units deployed to search.

Searchers have narrowed their efforts to the area of Pine and Little Mountain southwest of Rock Springs. Mower described it as forested and mountainous terrain also featuring steep cliffs and ravines.

Mower noted in a phone interview that investigators obtained cellphone ping data as well.

The agency deployed all its resources and coordinated with local airport officials, private air assets and the Wyoming Civil Air Patrol, the statement says. But early Tuesday afternoon, low cloud cover hindered the initial search efforts.

“We’ve since redoubled our efforts to secure nighttime aerial search capabilities,” said Mower.

Still Searching

The agency was still working Tuesday evening to get nighttime search units into the air, but as of about 6 p.m., search units pulled back because of the remote terrain and poor weather conditions, Mower said.

Though suspended for the evening, ground crews remain on standby to respond as needed or as conditions change, he said.

Mower said it’s safe to conclude that the plane has stopped moving, but he couldn’t confirm whether it had crashed, made an emergency landing or some other unknown circumstance is at play.

“All we know is we have a missing pilot and a plane, and we think we know the last area where they might have been before they went missing,” he said. “So just like any missing person case, we’ve deployed all our assets to that area.”

Devon Brubaker, Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport director, said airport personnel have been working with authorities to provide data and resources to help with the search. The plane left the airport just after 6 a.m., he confirmed.

“Conditions are difficult with snow accumulation and weather and darkness,” he said of the search. “We hope there’s a positive outcome in the coming hours, and we look forward to welcoming home this individual if we’re able to.”

ADS-B is a technology that uses both ground-based technology and in-aircraft tech to transmit an aircraft’s location and other data, like speed and elevation, Brubaker said.

Mower said federal authorities, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, have been notified. The local agency hopes to gain more specific data on the plane from them, Mower added.

Don’t Search On Your Own

The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office is urging “good Samaritans” not to go searching for the plane and pilot.

Search and rescue crews are already encountering such searchers, said Mower.

“We can’t stress enough, please don’t do that,” he added.

Especially in winter weather and rugged terrain, Mower said well-intentioned but unexpected civilian searchers can get lost or imperiled and divert search and rescue crews from the original search when they do so.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.