Search for missing plane continues

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 | 10:22 a.m.

A search continued this morning for a missing Piper Cherokee airplane that left North Las Vegas Air Terminal on Monday bound for Montgomery Field in San Diego, the Southern Nevada Civil Air Patrol said.

The last known position of the plane was north of Jean. Five area Civil Air Patrol volunteer pilots looked for the plane Tuesday until the search was suspended because of darkness. The search will continue today, weather permitting, the Civil Air Patrol said.

The missing aircraft did not file a flight plan, but was in radio contact with Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center when contact was lost, Civil Air Patrol incident commander Lt. Col. Rezk Mohamed II said.

The plane was flying under visual flight rules so a flight plan was not required, the Civil Air Patrol said, noting that authorities became aware that the plane was missing when the pilot, a Marine stationed in San Diego, was reported absent by his unit, Mohamed said.

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