Plane down in canyon?

[maxpower]

Has anyone heard an update on this?

Grand Canyon, Ariz. – On Sunday, March 13, Grand Canyon Airport south of Grand
Canyon National Park received a report from a general aviation pilot of an
activated emergency locator transmitter (also known as an ELT).

The airport immediately notified the National Park Service (NPS) because the ELT
had been detected approximately 30 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village in
the vicinity of the Fossil Corridor within Grand Canyon National Park. The
park's helicopter flew the area in the vicinity of the reported ELT activation,
but did not find any signs of a downed plane nor did they detect the beacon.
Because no corresponding report of a missing plane could be found, the search
was called off at that point.

On Monday, March 14, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) contacted the
NPS about a missing person – 47-year old Joseph Radford of Glendale, Arizona.
In the course of their investigations, the sheriff's office had determined that
Mr. Radford owned a red, RV-6 homebuilt, experimental aircraft which was also
missing. In addition, they had determined that Mr. Radford's plane was seen at
Grand Canyon Airport shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Friday,
March 11.

Based on radar tracking information from Friday, the NPS helicopter concentrated
search efforts in the Scorpion Ridge area, located in the vicinity of the Dragon
Corridor, on Monday; and on Tuesday, the park's helicopter and fixed-wing
aircraft both flew search patterns in the Fossil Corridor and Scorpion Ridge
areas with no success. Meanwhile, the CCSO continued their investigations and
began contacting backpackers known to have been to these areas to see if anyone
had seen or heard the plane on Friday.

Today, investigations and aerial searches continue. The focus of today's search
efforts has been Bedrock and Galloway Canyons in the Fossil Corridor area.

Joseph Radford is described as a 47-year old white male, with blue eyes, graying
hair and a receding hairline. He is 5'11" tall and weighs approximately 190
pounds. His plane is described as an RV6 Kit Built, cherry red airplane with
tail number N650RV.

If you believe that you have seen Mr. Radford or his aircraft since Friday,
March 11, at 8:30 a.m., please contact the National Park Service at
928-638-7805. (Media should continue to contact the Grand Canyon Public Affairs
office at 928-638-7958 or 928-638-7779.)

The latest estimate of the total search area is 600 square miles with the
National Park Service leading joint search operations with the Coconino County
Sheriff's Office.

[PaleoRob]

Watch the condors...

[azbackpackr]

Talked to my NPS pal. He's heard nothing more than what that story says, so far.

[MuttsMom]

Still no updates on Joe or his plane. It's been over 2 weeks now. He was a part of pilots n paws whose pilots volunteer to fly animals from kill shelters to rescues, where they won't be put down.

[Darrin]

Several months ago, a friend of mine received a dog from this man through the pilots n paws program. He told me they're calling off the search now. I found this article:

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Crews-to-s ... 06114.html

My thoughts go out to his friends and family.

[Canyonram]

Has there been any updates? The last I read had the Civil Air Patrol flights equipped with a surveillance device to take extreme close-up views of the terrain. Even though the ELT indicated that the plane went down in the Dragon/Scorpion area on the North Rim---still no recovery? That area is only about 30 miles Northwest of Grand Canyon Village. Shows how unforgiving the Canyon can be.

[writelots]

Shows how unforgiving the Canyon can be.

The canyon giveth and the canyon taketh away. My sympathies to anyone who has family lost in that great place...