Crews face challenging terrain in search for missing Tacoma pilot, WSDOT reports
Better weather has helped search crews looking for a missing Tacoma pilot, but they face challenging terrain, the Washington State Department of Transportation reported Tuesday.
Rodney Collen took off March 6 from the Tacoma Narrows Airport in Gig Harbor in a 2006 Cessna T182 Turbo Skylane and has not been seen since.
“Improved weather conditions late Monday afternoon permitted search and rescue crews to conduct air searches via a state DNR helicopter,” WSDOT posted on the agency’s website early Tuesday. “Crews searched the area for several hours near Queets and found nothing of significance.”
WSDOT officials have said the plane descended near the Jefferson and Grays Harbor county line, The News Tribune reported, and that they’ve narrowed the search to 36 square miles near Queets.
“Quinault Tribal Nation emergency management crews flew a UAS drone over the search area Monday afternoon and could not find anything of interest,” WSDOT’s Tuesday morning update said. “No ground searches are happening at this time until we can identify more specific areas. The terrain remains challenging to navigate as it is densely wooded and covered in snow in some locations.”
The agency said the air search would continue Tuesday with two aircraft and a drone search by the Quinault Tribal Nation.
WSDOT expects to post an update at 5 p.m.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published March 14, 2023 at 10:52 AM.
