Search expands in West Virginia mountains
GRANT COUNTY, W.VA. -- An extensive, day-long search Tuesday for signs of a lost airplane carrying three Alle-Kiski Valley business leaders was fruitless.
Search and rescue crews will continue today to scour several thousand square miles of mountainous, tree-packed land near the eastern panhandle of West Virginia for signs of the plane.
The small plane -- carrying pilot Michael Garrone of Allegheny Township, Chas Armitage of Parks Township, and Laura Stettmier, also of Parks -- was traveling from Danville, Va., to Johnstown after a weekend trip. It disappeared from radar at 8:45 Sunday evening after Garrone radioed that he was trying to land at an alternate airport.
More than 100 people, including volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol, combed the land Tuesday afternoon. Local fire departments and families of those on the flight joined the search.
The search was expanded Tuesday to as far north as Frostburg, Md., and as far south as Brandywine, Va., according to Jeff Schrock, a spokesman for the Civil Air Patrol's West Virginia wing. The plane's last known position was near Bergton, Va.
Because of its location and the assumption that the plane would have likely passed through the area, rural Grant County Airport became the search's hub.
Volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol descended upon Grant County from elsewhere in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, manning nine ground crews and three fixed-wing aircraft. Maryland State Police and Virginia State Police lent their helicopters to the hunt.
Mountainous terrain and lush, leafy trees hampered the search, Schrock said. Clouds and fog Tuesday morning meant planes couldn't be used to search until the skies cleared in the afternoon.
Crews searched all day Tuesday, seeking "anything that's unusual," Schrock said, including broken limbs on trees, anything that looks burnt or anything reflective. If they locate something, they head out on foot to investigate and report the findings back to the base.
A Civil Air Patrol building at the airport served as the operation's command center. A projector screen inside showed the course searchers tracked throughout the day, and Google Earth was used to get an idea of the terrain.
Planes are equipped with an Emergency Locator Transmitter, or ELT, that sets off a high-pitched ringing sound when a plane faces sudden impact. Search vans and planes are using directional finders, listening for the sound.
"We have not heard any signal," Schrock said Tuesday afternoon.
Searchers also are working with cell phone experts to try to pick up signals from cell phones that may have been on board, Schrock said.
Anything found could help narrow down the search to a more specific area.
"You're talking about several thousand square miles," said Schrock of the current search area.
Crews searched near the Jordan Run area of West Virginia and the Grant County Airport as well as the larger several thousand square mile radius, finding nothing.
Air Force Capt. DeWitt Latimer, a First Lt. for the Civil Air Patrol, traveled from Chantilly, Va. to search Tuesday. Weather Tuesday was "fantastic" for a ground search, he said, although it wasn't great for flying.
The mission, he said: "Take a vehicle with a lot of eyes and cover a lot of area."
When anyone in the van sees something out of the ordinary, they stop and search with binoculars.
Capt. Eric Judy, of Masontown, W.V., spent Monday and Tuesday combing the area.
"It's very, very rugged terrain," said Judy, 32. "The hills go straight up and down."
The plane, a Piper PA-32R, left Danville Sunday observing visual flight rules and not its instruments, Schrock said.
Weather in the region has been rainy and cold from Friday to Monday, Schrock said.
The pilot had indicated that he planned to land at Grant County Airport, but the plane never arrived there, according to the states Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Some of the family members present spoke through Schrock, saying they're appreciative of the support from volunteers searching and that they remain optimistic.
