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.