Barbara LaBoe, communications, 360-701-1464 (mobile)

OLYMPIA - The Washington State Department of Transportation is searching for a missing plane near the town of Yacolt in Clark County.

The single engine plane was headed from Bend, Oregon, to the Tacoma Narrows Airport near Gig Harbor, Washington Monday afternoon. The pilot was talking to air traffic control in Portland and then announced the engine was running rough and they were unable to maintain altitude and were descending through the clouds. The plane’s last radar and voice contact was at 3:47 p.m. in forest land near the town of Yacolt. Yacolt is a small town located northeast of Vancouver and south of Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington.

There is no emergency beacon signal being picked up, but the last known radar contact gives crews a target search location. The search is being conducted by air with a Navy helicopter out of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, and on the ground by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Two people were in the plane, which is registered in Washington. Further details about the plane and occupants are not being released at this time due to the ongoing search and investigation. Updates on the search will be posted on the WSDOT blog. Email updates are available online via the Air Search and Rescue listserve.

WSDOT, by statute (RCW 47.68.380), is charged with the coordination and management of aerial search and rescue within the state. The agency works in conjunction with volunteer search and rescue groups, law enforcement and other agencies, such as the Navy, in carrying out such searches.