U.S. Coast Guard suspended a search Friday afternoon for the pilot of an experimental aircraft that crashed off of Point Reyes Thursday night. (CBS Graphic)
Plane With Unconscious Pilot At Controls Plunges Into Ocean 460 Miles Off Point Reyes
August 14, 2015 8:58 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — U.S. Coast Guard officials said they have suspended a search Friday afternoon for the pilot of an experimental aircraft that crashed off of Point Reyes Thursday night.
The Coast Guard was notified by the North American Aerospace Defense Command at 7:40 p.m. on Thursday that a civilian experimental Lancair aircraft that had departed from Palmdale, Calif. was not responding to communications and was heading out to sea.
The Coast Guard called in Air Force fighter jets, which were able to locate the air craft and fly near it, but could not get a response from the solo pilot.
Air Force crews were approximately three miles behind the aircraft when it crashed around 10:39 p.m. about 460 miles off of Point Reyes, according to the Coast Guard.
The Air Force planes dropped buoys and a life raft in the area, but a five-hour search of a 368-square mile area has located debris but no signs of the pilot, coast guard officials said.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the missing pilot,” said Coast Guard Capt. Ward Sandlin in a statement Friday.
The crash will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
| Date: | 13-AUG-2015 |
| Time: | 22:39 |
| Type: | Lancair Evolution |
| Owner/operator: | Unmanned Systems Inc |
| Registration: | N427LE |
| C/n / msn: | EVO-002 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Airplane damage: | Aircraft missing |
| Location: | Pacific Ocean west of Point Reyes, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Phoenix Deer Valley (KDVT) |
| Hesperia (L26) |
The aircraft, an experimental Bartels built Lancair Evolution, experienced fuel exhaustion over the Pacific Ocean over four hundred miles west of Point Reyes National Seashore in California following a pilot incapacitation event. The airplane is missing at known coordinates and the sole pilot onboard is presumed fatal. Sources:
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=178656 http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/08/14/plane-with-unconscious-pilot-at-controls-plunges-into-sea-off-point-reyes/
http://www.asias.faa.gov/pls/apex/f?p=100:95:0::NO::P95_EVENT_LCL_DATE,P95_LOC_CITY_NAME,P95_REGIST_NBR:14-AUG-15,SAN%20FRANCISCO,N427LE
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=427LE
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000595734.html