Small Plane Goes Missing Near Crescent Bar, Search Underway

A multi-agency search is underway after a small plane went missing near the Columbia River on Tuesday.

The Grant County Sheriff's Office says the Cessna Skyhawk reportedly vanished at around 11 p.m. after taking off from McAllister Field in Yakima at about 3 p.m. bound for Lake Chelan Airport.

Sheriff's spokesperson, Kyle Foreman, says the plane was last detected by radar near the Grant/Douglas County line.

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"The last data that was sent form the plane puts it near Crescent Bar but the area where that signal came from we've specifically checked and there's no aircraft there. So we're going to search a continuously-widening circle from that spot and see if we can locate it."

Foreman says the Sheriff's Office was contacted by an air traffic controller in Seattle after the plane suddenly disappeared from radar.

Efforts to locate the aircraft were suspended overnight due to safety concerns but resumed this morning with the assistance of a helicopter search crew from the Chelan County Sheriff's Office and members of the sheriff's office in neighboring Kittitas County.

Grant County Sheriff's officials do not know if anyone besides the pilot was on board the plane, which is a lightweight, single-engine aircraft designed for private use.

The missing plane's identification or N-number has not been released nor has the identity of its registered pilot or official flight plan.