Coast Guard searching for missing Alaska park rangers

[The Patriot]

Image courtesy of Google EarthANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Coast Guard is assisting the National Park Service and the Anchorage Rescue Coordination Center in the search for a Dehavilland Beaver airplane carrying four people including three Park Rangers who were reported missing Saturday afternoon after the plane did not arrive in King Salmon as expected.

A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew is conducting a first light search between Swikshak Bay and King Salmon. The morning search is the second search conducted by the Coast Guard after a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew flew late Saturday and early Sunday.

The National Park Service requested the assistance of AKRCC which then requested assistance from the Coast Guard at 7:15 p.m. to help find the airplane that left Swikshak Bay at 2:45 p.m.

The flight from Swikshak Bay near the Katmai National Park to King Salmon reportedly takes less than one hour.




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