KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - The Latest on missing medical flight in Alaska (all times local):
6:35 p.m.
Guardian Flight, which operated the medical airplane that went missing in Alaska, has released the names of those onboard.
The pilot is 63-year-old Patrick Coyle, the flight nurse is 30-year-old Stacie Rae Morse, and the flight paramedic is 43-year-old Margaret Langston Allen. The company statement says all are based in Juneau.
Guardian Flight Randy Lyman says the company is focusing on the crewmembers’ families during this difficult time.
The Coast Guard says the twin-engine King Air 200 took off from Anchorage on Tuesday and was expected to land in Kake but never arrived. A Guard spokeswoman says airplane debris was found Wednesday but the search continues because searchers could not immediately confirm the debris found Wednesday is that of the missing plane.
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4:45 p.m.
The Coast Guard in Alaska says airplane debris has been found during a search for a medical airplane that went missing with three people aboard.
Chief Petty Officer Charly Hengen says searchers could not immediately confirm the debris found Wednesday is of the missing King Air 200 plane operated by Guardian Flight. The debris was found about 22 miles west of the southeast Alaska village of Kake.
The Coast Guard says the twin-engine plane took off from Anchorage on Tuesday and was expected to land in Kake at 6:19 p.m. but never arrived.
Hengen says the search continues for the missing plane, despite the discovery of debris.
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11:50 a.m.
Federal accident investigators are reviewing radar flight information about a medical airplane that went missing with three people aboard who were heading to pick up a patient in an Alaska village.
Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board in Alaska, says no clues have been immediately found in the electronic search Wednesday of archived data showing the flight pattern of the missing King Air 200 plane operated by operated by Guardian Flight.
The Coast Guard says the twin-engine plane took off from Anchorage on Tuesday and was expected to land in the southeastern community of Kake at 6:19 p.m. but never arrived.
Kake city administrator Rudy Bean says residents in a dozen boats searched Tuesday night for the plane, and some went back out to sea Wednesday.
Chief Petty Officer Charly Hengen says the search by boats and aircraft is focusing on an area 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Kake.
The Coast Guard says Alaska state ferries also have joined in the search.
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9:50 a.m.
An official with a medical flight firm says the company’s Alaska aircraft have been grounded while the Coast Guard searches for an overdue air ambulance with three people on board.
Guardian Flight spokesman Jim Gregory says the grounding of the aircraft gives company employees a chance to reflect on the three crew members and pray for them. A pilot, a nurse and a paramedic are aboard.
Gregory says the company initially grounded all aircraft across the U.S. but has gradually re-started operations with aircraft based outside of Alaska.
The Coast Guard says the King Air 200 plane operated by Guardian Flight took off from Anchorage on Tuesday and was expected to land in the tiny southeastern village of Kake at 6:19 p.m. but never arrived.
Chief Petty Officer Charly Hengen says the search by boats and aircraft is focusing on an area 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Kake.
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2:45 a.m.
The Coast Guard in Alaska is searching for an overdue medical flight with three people aboard.
The Coast Guard says the King Air 200, operated by Guardian Flight, had taken off from Anchorage on Tuesday and was expected to land in Kake at 6:19 p.m., but never arrived.
A pilot, a nurse and a paramedic were aboard.
A Coast Guard vessel was sent to search near the aircraft’s last known position.
Light rain was reported in the area.
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