UPDATED 11:30 P.M. (1/30/19)
Late Wednesday night, Guardian Flight released the names of its missing crew.
63-year old pilot Patrick Coyle, 30-year old flight nurse Stacie Rae Morse, and 43-year-old flight paramedic Margaret Langston were aboard the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 200 plane owned by Guardian Flight. All of the crew members are based in Juneau. The plane was traveling from Anchorage and due to arrive in Kake at 6:19 p.m. Tuesday evening but did not.
UPDATED 5:45 P.M. (1/30/19)
Debris from a plane has been located in the water as the U.S. Coast Guard and others continue to search for the missing medevac aircraft that went missing Tuesday night on a flight from Anchorage to Kake.
The Coast Guard has been focusing their search on the last known position of the aircraft, an area of water 30 nautical miles by 20 nautical miles west of Kake. Chief Charly Hengen, public affairs specialist with the Coast Guard, said the debris was found near that area.
“They’re still continuing the search,” Hengen said. “We did receive reports that debris from a plane was located on the water approximately 22 miles west of Kake. It’s located about the South tip of Admiralty Island in Chatham Straight. However, the Coast Guard cannot confirm that the debris is from that aircraft.”
The Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa, Cutter Bailey Barco and an Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew continue the search this tonight (1/30/19).
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UPDATED 12:50 P.M. (1/30/19)
The search is still underway, this afternoon, for the overdue aircraft with three people aboard 20 miles west of Kake.
A press release issued by the U.S. Coast Guard 17th District at 11:19 a.m., confirmed that a Juneau-based Army National Guard UH-60 rescue helicopter had joined in the search efforts, and the Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco was on its way to the area.
Petersburg and Kake Search and Rescue teams are also assisting, along with Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Marine Highway Ferries.
Weather on scene this morning was reported as rain/snow mix with overcast skies, 7 mph and an air temperature of 39 degrees and water temperature of 42 degrees with 1-3 foot swells.
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POSTED 11:50 P.M. (1/29/19)
The U.S. Coast Guard was searching, Tuesday night, for a medevac aircraft with three people on board that was on its way to Kake.
The plane, a twin-engine King Air owned by the emergency life flight company Guardian Flight, was traveling to the Southeast community from Anchorage. According to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard 17th District, Juneau watchstanders received word from Sitka Flight Services that the plane was expected to arrive in Kake at 6:19 p.m., but it never showed up.
According to a statement released by Randy Lyman, Guardian Flight’s Senior Vice President of Operations, three of the company’s employees were aboard the plane when it went missing – a pilot, a nurse and a paramedic.
As of late Tuesday night, the search was still underway. KCAW spoke with Coast Guard spokeswoman, Petty Officer 1st Class Charly Hengen, at 11:30 p.m., who said that the crew of the cutter Anacapa, a Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka, and several good samaritan vessels were then searching an area 20 miles west of Kake.
Weather on scene was reported as light rain with overcast skies, 10 mile visibility and 7 mph winds.
