Searchers have not found any sign of a missing plane that left Valdez on Monday, authorities said Wednesday.
The red and white Aeronca Champion was piloted by Andy Andersen, a Sutton resident, who reportedly took off around 5 p.m. Monday and was expected to arrive about 90 minutes later in his home community.
Ground searchers and aircraft scanned the route between Valdez and Sutton on Wednesday, Alaska State Troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said in an email. But poor weather “was still significantly limiting flight operations,” DeSpain said.
Assets from the Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska Army National Guard, along with troopers and the Rescue Coordination Center, began searching Tuesday.
Andersen’s family members say they hope he landed the plane to wait out the bad weather.