QUEETS, Wash. — The search for a missing pilot who disappeared from radar after taking off from the Tacoma Narrows Airport has been called off by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
The pilot, Rod Collen, took off in a 2006 Cessna T182 Turbo Skylane on Monday, March 6, at 5:35 p.m. and abruptly fell off radar a few minutes later. He has not been seen or heard from since.
Several minutes into the flight, the plane's Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system was either turned off or malfunctioned, causing the plane to disappear from normal air traffic controller tracking systems, according to WSDOT.
ADS-B systems broadcast information about an aircraft's GPS location, altitude, ground speed and other data to ground stations and other aircraft once per second, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A specialized radar forensics team was able to use primary radar returns to place the aircraft within a 36-square mile section near the coast between Lake Quinault and Queets in rugged forest terrain, according to WSDOT. The area is on Quinalt tribal land near the Jefferson and Grays Harbor county line.
The final radar plots show the aircraft made a very rapid descent toward the ground. Collen was the only one on the plane.
WSDOT air search and rescue crews have been searching for nearly two weeks but haven't found a trace of either the pilot or the plane.
The Department of Transportation said they have exhausted all available resources, leads and search areas based on the information they've been able to gather. The aerial search flight path shows an extensive effort by search and rescue pilots in the area the plane is believed to have gone down.
There are no plans for more aerial searches, barring any new leads or developments in Collen's disappearance.
"This is not the outcome searchers and the many partners had hoped for and our thoughts are with both the family and everyone who worked to try and locate the aircraft," WSDOT said in a release. "The family has been kept informed of search activities and has been briefed about this decision."
A number of agencies assisted with the search, including the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the Tacoma Police Department, Olympic National Park, the Quinault Tribal Nation, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, Civil Air Patrol National Forensics Radar Team and Washington Air Search and Rescue.
Anyone who thinks they saw or heard the plane on Monday, March 6, or spotted anything in the area should call the State Emergency Operations Center at 800-259-5990 with details. The plane's tail number is N24289.