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Search in 4th Day for Missing Plane E. of Lakeview
Idaho Pilot Not Heard From Since Thursday

From KTVZ.COM News Sources
POSTED: 12:53 am PDT May 28, 2012
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UPDATED: 12:24 pm PDT May 28, 2012

Lake County Sheriff's Office
Authorities on Monday released this photo of the 1978 Grumman single-engine plane that disappeared on return flight from Lakeview to Idaho last Thursday
ADEL, Ore. -- A wide-ranging air and ground search was in its fourth day Monday in remote, rugged southeast Oregon and northern Nevada for an a single-engine plane whose Idaho pilot failed to return home after a trip to Lakeview to drop off two children, authorities said.
Tony Nicholls, 48, of Meridian, Idaho was piloting a 1978 Grumman four-seat AA5A "Cheetah" Thursday evening when he failed to arrive at his destination, officials said.
Nicholls had flown Thursday afternoon to Lakeview from the Caldwell, Idaho area to drop off two children. He left Lakeview, alone in the plane, around 5 p.m. to return to Idaho.
"There was significant weather at the time, in the region, including snow showers and gusty winds," a release issued Monday by Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said. . There is no control tower at Lakeview, and the pilot was not required to contact air traffic control. Radar and cell phone records indicate that the last known location for the aircraft was near Hart Lake in the area of Plush, Oregon.
Searchers from Lake and Klamath counties were engaged on the search Friday night, immediately after the aircraft was reported missing. Deputies with the two offices searched throughout Friday in more "difficult weather," Evinger said.
Emergency Airlift, an air ambulance provider based in Klamath Falls, donated the use of a helicopter Friday and Saturday, as weather was regularly grounding Civil Air Patrol's fixed-wing planes that were staged and ready to search the area. CAP pilots were able to fly Sunday in the search zone and continued their efforts Monday, joined by an Oregon National Guard helicopter.
Resources committed or utilized on the search include:
40+ Ground searchers. (Lake, Klamath, Washoe, NV counties)
5 Civil Air Patrol airplanes
5 Washoe County airplanes
2 Harney County airplanes
1 Emergency Airlift (Klamath Falls-based air ambulance and search helicopter)
1 National Guard Helicopter
5 private aircraft (friends of the missing pilot from Idaho)
6 Missing Aircraft Search Team (MAST) members located nationwide. The Missing Aircraft Search Team is a volunteer organization that brings together diverse talents to work to solve missing aircraft cases. MAST members focus on US-based searches, but have supported international efforts upon occasion.
In Monday's update, Evinger wrote that "Nicholls' wife Amy wants to publicly thank all those who are looking for her husband. Mrs. Nicholls and officials encourage anyone who saw or heard an airplane in the area Thursday evening to contact their local police agency with any information."
There was no flight plan on file, the sheriff said, noting that pilots flying under visual flight rules (VFR) are not required to file a plan.
The widespread search area includes parts of northern Nevada and a significant portion of eastern Lake County.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office is managing the incident.
"He could be anywhere between Lakeview and Boise," Lake County Sheriff Phil McDonald told NewsChannel 21 Sunday evening from the command post in Adel, near the plane's last known position. "We're pretty sure he went down," the sheriff said, adding that he'd made no contact with anyone since leaving Lakeview.
Efforts to locate the plane by tracking the pilot's cell phone and other means have proven fruitless, he said.
Meanwhile, Klamath County Sheriff's officials said late Sunday they have called off the search for a possible downed aircraft in Upper Klamath Lake.
The Klamath Falls Herald and News said a driver on Highway 97 Sunday afternoon reported a small aircraft spiraling out of control over the lake but did not see if it crashed or regained control, according to Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger.
Marine, ground and air patrol deputies searched the southern end of the lake and found no evidence of a crash, Evinger said as he circled the lake in a search and rescue plane.
The aircraft was described as a possible glider or a small experimental plane. Air traffic controllers had no reports of a mayday call or a missing aircraft, Evinger said.
“We were erring on the side of caution, deploying resources to make sure someone did not need rescuing,” Evinger told the paper.PrintEmail


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"There was significant weather at the time, in the region, including snow showers and gusty winds"

If this is true, well we all know the risk involved. I hope they find him alive and well.

G'Day

http://www.ktvz.com/news/31131827/detail.html

Searchers Find Missing Plane, Pilot's Body
Wide-Ranging Search Involved Numerous Agencies

From KTVZ.COM News Sources
POSTED: 1:26 pm PDT May 30, 2012
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UPDATED: 5:19 pm PDT May 30, 2012

Search and Rescue volunteers checked map at Adel, Oregon command post as hunt for missing small plane continues
LAKEVIEW, Ore. -- The sixth day of a wide-ranging search over some 4,000 square miles for a missing single-engine plane and its Idaho pilot ended tragically Wednesday with discovery of the wreckage.
Just before 3 p.m., the Oregon Wing of the Civil Air Patrol located a possible crash site and reported it to Lake County Incident Command.
An Oregon National Guard HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter was dispatched to the scene and confirmed the tail number of the airplane was that of Tony Nicholls'. The Meridian, Idaho man was found deceased, officials said.
The aircraft wreckage was found at 6,500 feet in elevation on the west face of Hart Mountain. The location of the crash was about 13 miles northeast of Plush, Oregon.
An investigation was under way at the scene while the FAA and the NTSB were being notified of the crash location.
Family members have been notified, officials said, adding that confirmation of the aircraft's occupant was assumed , pending positive identification.
Nicholls, 48, of Meridian, Idaho went missing Thursday night shortly after 5 P.M. in his 1978 Grumman Cheetah.
Skies were clear in the search area Wednesday, which encompassed more than 4,000 square miles. Lake County Sheriff Phil McDonald was at an incident command post is located at Adel, about 30 miles east of Lakeview.
The search area included diverse terrain in the high desert including tablelands and plateaus, heavily forested mountains, and canyons. There had been snowfall in some of the search area since Thursday night, which added difficulty in seeing a white airplane. But officials said the snow received last weekend was rapidly melting Wednesday as temperatures warmed upwards of 75 degrees in Lakeview.
Agencies and resources that worked the search include:
Lake County, OR Sheriff's Office
Oregon Emergency Management
Klamath County, OR Sheriff's Office
Emergency Airlift (Helicopter)
Josephine County, OR Sheriff's Office
Curry County, OR Sheriff's Office
Deschutes County, OR Sheriff's Office
Harney County, OR Sheriff's Office
Washoe County, Sheriff's Office
Siskiyou County, CA Sheriff's Office
Modoc County, CA Sheriff's Office
Bureau of Land Management
US Department of Fish and Wildlife
US Forest Service
Oregon Department of Forestry
Search managers sent out a statewide request for assistance from all Oregon sheriffs on Wednesday.
The Oregon Army National Guard's Charlie Co., 7-158 Aviation provided two aircraft and crews in support of civilian authorities conducting the search and rescue. One is an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter, which is being used as a spotter aircraft, while the other is a HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, which is the newest model in the Oregon Army National Guard's aviation inventory, and utilizes FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared) technology.
The HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter incorporates upgraded T700-GE-701D engines and improved rotor blades. It also features state of the art electronic instrumentation, flight controls and aircraft navigation control. The unit is based at the Maj. Charles L. Deibert Facility in Salem.PrintEmail


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The views expressed are not those of KTVZ.com, KTVZ or its affiliated companies. This is a community moderated forum.

Very sad, most sincere condolences to friends and family or Mr. Nicholls

Me and Terry, Pam and my son were having dinner at Salem tonight as CAP and Air Guard were coming back from the search. We got the same sad news. Don't push into bad wx guys, not worth it. Camp out for as long as it takes for good wx to arrive. Better to arrive late than never.

I was giving the chopper crew a little crap. I said Does your momma know you are out flying in that chopper. The old CAP dudes from the 182 told me I should be more respectful. I politely declined their request. Bunch of minor league ////s

G'Day